2009 MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE: NOT GUILTY, PLEADS ANDAL AMPATUAN SR.
MANILA, JUNE 2, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) By Jaime Pilapil, Correspondent - FORMER Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. of Maguindanao on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of murder in connection with the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, known as the world's single deadliest event in history for the Philippine media.
He appeared for the first time before the sala of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City (Metro Manila) where relatives of the victims had trooped to see the patriarch of the politically powerful Ampatuan clan.
Ampatuan Sr., together with his two sons—former Gov. Datu Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and former Mayor Andal Ampatuan 2nd of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao —were tagged as the masterminds of murdering 57 people, including 31 journalists and 26 relatives and associates of now Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao.
The elder Ampatuan was arraigned along with a former militiaman, Nicodemus Tolentino, also known as Mohammad Datumanong. His lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, earlier filed a motion asking Reyes that Ampatuan Sr. be arraigned last May 25 but the judge set for June 1 the date of arraignment of the former governor.
Lawyer Harry Roque, who represents the journalist-victims of the massacre, said that the delayed arraignment of Ampatuan only showed the dysfunctional justice system in the country.
The Ampatuan patriarch's "arraignment was made possible only because he voluntarily agreed to it. Never mind that the prosecution has had a pending motion to have all the accused in custody to be arraigned. The court has not acted on this motion. This is alarming because, seemingly, it was not the rules that compelled Ampatuan Sr. to enter a plea. On the contrary, it was only because he agreed to it—as if an accused can now rewrite the rules to suit his ends," Roque noted in a statement distributed to reporters.
He said that the sudden decision to voluntarily arraign the former governor was intended to deflect public attention away from the controversy surrounding a petition for reviews filed by sons of Ampatuan Sr. before the Court of Appeals.
Roque accused the appellate court of dilly-dallying in ruling on the release of at least one of Andal's sons after it was exposed that around P200 million allegedly has been dangled before judges of the court to favor the Ampatuans.
.Aside from Ampatuan Sr., also jailed at Camp Bagong Diwa are his sons Rizaldy and Ampatuan Jr., former Mayor Datu Anwar Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak town, former vice governor Datu Sajid Ampatuan of Maguindanao and former Mayor Akmad Ampatuan of Mamasapano town.
Detained, too, at the camp are 90 other suspects in the massacre. Emotions flared after Ampatuan Sr. entered his plea.
Relatives of the victims shouted in disgust, an outburst that prompted the defense lawyer to ask Reyes to move for removal from the court of the victims' relatives and private prosecution lawyer Nena Santos for leading the shouting.
The judge then warned the members of the victims' families to calm down or face eviction from the courtroom. Regional State Prosecutor Peter Medalle said that the outburst of the families was "spontaneous."
Members of the Ampatuan clan are accused of planning and executing the Maguindanao massacre on the morning of November 23, 2009 in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao in southern Mindanao.
The victims were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy for governor of Esmael Mangudadatu, then the vice mayor of Buluan town, when they were killed.
Mangundadatu was challenging Ampatuan Jr. in the May 2010 Maguindanao gubernatorial elections.
He said that the behavior of the victims' families during yesterday's hearing was normal because all of them lost a loved one.
"Masaya ako, kami lahat na nakita namin s'ya na nakaposas at humarap sa korte. Sa ngayon nararamdaman n'ya siguro ang mga ginawa nyang masasama (I'm glad, we all are, to see Ampatuan Sr. in handcuffs while facing the court. I think he that he was feeling the weight of all the bad things that he had done to us)," the Maguindanao governor added.
His brother, ARMM Assemblyman Khadafi Mangudadatu, said that he was also glad to see the Ampatuan patriarch in handcuffs instead of his usual accessories when he was still a free man.
"This is our most awaited moment, to see him wearing the world's most hated 'bracelets' instead of the expensive jewelry that he used to wear," Khadafi added. With report from Maria Nikka U. Garriga
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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