EDITORIAL - Designed for acquittal

That was a confusing press conference yesterday. The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Malacañang officials said, had promised not to harbor the “Ampatuan rebel group” in Maguindanao. The country has a new rebel group?

In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the rebel group is the MILF, and it cannot possibly harbor the Ampatuans or their supporters, since the clan has long been a staunch enemy of the separatists. The MILF was suspected to have set off a bomb that killed Saudi Ampatuan Sr., brother of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Sr. Now the Ampatuans will run to the MILF for sanctuary?

Rebellion being a political offense, the government should explain the Ampatuans’ supposed ideological motive. They face criminal charges for the slaughter of 57 people, 30 of them journalists, in a clan war. Those charges will be absorbed into a rebellion case.

But the Ampatuans were not rebelling; they were appealing to their ally President Arroyo for help. Malacañang might have obliged, if not for the international outcry. Even as the body count in the massacre rose from the initial 12, deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo famously said the massacre was no reason for the President to end her friendship with the Ampatuans.

Criticized for coddling the clan, the President decided to declare martial law, but she needed a reason. It was either an invasion or rebellion, and the first premise was out of the question. Initially described as “looming,” the rebellion is now supposed to be active though unseen, which should worry the nation, since any law-abiding citizen can now be accused of fomenting rebellion in secret.

Martial law was not needed by the government to arrest the Ampatuans and their supporters, or search their homes and seize their weapons. And even under martial law, the Constitution is not suspended. This means court orders are still needed for such searches and seizures, with representatives of the suspects present. Any evidence seized illegally is inadmissible in court. An inventory of all items seized must be made; is anyone keeping an accurate list? Were election paraphernalia seized?

The overriding concern after the massacre is to give the victims justice. This includes not just arresting the Ampatuans and dismantling their private army — it’s not a rebel group — but also ensuring that the cases will prosper and the guilty will be punished.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has pointed out that by law, ordinary crimes such as rape and murder committed in pursuit of rebellion must be absorbed into a rebellion case. Without a genuine rebellion, the case will be thrown out, the Ampatuans will be acquitted, and the 57 victims will get no justice. Perhaps this is the whole point of imposing martial law.