Maguindanao massacre conviction seen under Rody
There will be justice under the Duterte administration for the 58 people – including 32 journalists – brutally killed in Maguindanao and hurriedly buried by armed followers of the Ampatuan clan.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II gave the assurance as the nation commemorated yesterday the seventh anniversary of the carnage, known as the Maguindanao massacre.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Malacañang shared the nation’s outrage over the bloodbath and the slow grind of justice.
The mass murder is considered the worst attack on journalists in the world and the most atrocious case of election violence in the country.
“We believe that the conviction in the Maguindanao massacre case will come in the next few years. This case should be decided well within the six-year administration of President Duterte,” he told The STAR in a text message.
“Today, Nov. 23, we remember the Maguindanao massacre. Seven years after the gruesome massacre happened in 2009, justice remains elusive to the victims and to their loved ones,” Andanar said.
Aguirre revealed a DOJ team of prosecutors is doing its best to expedite the proceedings before the Quezon City Regional Trial
Court Branch 221 and secure the conviction of Andal Ampatuan Jr. and brother Zaldy Ampatuan, the two main accused in the case.
“The Department of Justice reiterates its commitment in the quest for the elusive justice of the families of the victims. We will do all that we can to make the wheels of justice turn faster not only in this case but in other cases,” he said in a statement.
Aguirre said the DOJ has been exerting extra effort not only to bring justice to the families of victims but also to help them “find the grace to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.”
The DOJ chief, a litigation expert, said the prosecution team handling the case has a standing order to block dilatory tactic of defense lawyers during the ongoing trial of the case.
The previous Aquino administration had targeted the release of a verdict on the case on or before it stepped down from office in June.
Halfway into trial
The Supreme Court ( SC) revealed the court handling the case “is actually more than halfway” into the trial.
“The RTC is actually more than halfway into the trial as not all the accused will be presenting evidence,” SC spokesman Theodore Te explained in a text message.
In an update on the case, the high court said the proceedings before the QC RTC have now reached the presentation of evidence by the accused.
“It is now the turn of the defense to present its evidencein-chief. Nine of the accused who were the subject of the first batch of defense FOEs (formal offer of evidence) resolved by the Court on June 13, 2016 have already either presented their defense evidence or filed a demurrer to evidence,” the SC said. “Only one accused of the nine is still presenting defense evidence.”
The 45 accused in the second of six batches of accused in the case are set to present their evidence to the court in January next year.
The RTC earlier denied a bail petition of Zaldy Ampatuan and is set to rule on a similar application from Andal Ampatuan Jr.
“In the conclusion of the presentation of defense evidence and after all of the parties have rested, these murder cases would then be submitted for the decision of the court,” the SC explained.
As of yesterday, the court has heard a total of 232 witnesses – 131 prosecution witnesses, 58 private complainants and 43 defense witnesses.
The case involves 58 victims, 197 accused with 111 of them already arrested and arraigned, 147 prosecution witnesses and 300 defense witnesses. Because of this, law experts admitted that the case would take a longer time to resolve.
Judge wants out
But while the trial is already in its second stage, the judge handling it from the beginning might just leave the case.
Quezon City RTC branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, who has been hearing the multiple murder case since January 2010, is seeking promotion as justice with the upcoming vacancies in the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan. She took over the case after several judges inhibited from it.
She has accepted nomination for the posts to be left vacant by the retirement of Associate Justice Agnes Carpio in the CA on Dec. 1. Associate Sandiganbayan Justice Jose Hernandez retired last Tuesday.
Earlier, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said she was hoping Reyes would finish hearing the case and would not seek promotion just yet.
“I told her, ‘ Judge please don’t leave the case yet,’” the Supreme Court chief told reporters in an interview.
“Her family is under watch. She has guards, even her children. It is not an easy life. So when you come face to face with a human being asking you if she doesn’t have any right to be promoted, isn’t that hard?” Sereno lamented.
While the SC chief would have wanted Reyes to remain on the case and not to seek promotion for the speedy resolution of the case, she said she has to be fair with the judge.
Last year, Reyes also applied and was shortlisted for a CA vacancy but was not appointed.
At Malacañang, Andanar said President Duterte is keen on providing more protection to journalists and ending the impunity in the killings of members of the so-called Fourth Estate.
In line with this, Andanar said the President signed Executive Order No. 2 operationalizing in the executive branch the people’s constitutional right to information including full public disclosure and transparency in the public service.
The Palace will also roll out the online version of the Freedom of Information (FOI) executive order tomorrow.
The President also signed his first Administrative Order creating a Presidential Task Force on Media Security, Andanar said. –