Journalists urge court to arraign massacre suspects

Sunday, October 23, 2011
A JOURNALISTS group urged Sunday a local court to arraign Ampatuan clan members linked to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case.
Rowena Paraan, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) secretary general, could not hide her dismay on the continued delay in the arraignment of Ampatuan family members two years after they were charged.
The journalist group was referring to Zaldy Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, Akmad Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan Jr. and Bahnarin Ampatuan, among the more than a hundred suspects in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao province.
“We want the court to have Zaldy and the rest of the Ampatuans included in the case arraigned, and this is what we will press as part of the countdown to the commemoration of the second anniversary of the massacre,” Paraan said.
She said though NUJP recognizes and respects the decision of Quezon City regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to wait for a ruling on the motion filed by Zaldy Ampatuan and the other accused before the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning their inclusion in the murder charges, their arraignment has taken too long.
“We understand that Judge Solis-Reyes wants to observe judicial courtesy because of the pending motion before the appellate court but this case is different considering its gravity that he and the rest of the accused should be arraigned now,” she said.

Only the clan patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son and namesake, former Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., have been arraigned. Both have entered not guilty pleas.

Of the 197 suspects charged in the massacre, less than a hundred were in detention and only more than half were arraigned.

The sheer number of the accused and the witnesses to be presented by both sides, as well as the numerous motions filed by the defense panel prompted some quarters to question when the trial will be done and a verdict issued.
Various media groups started Sunday the month-long commemoration of the second anniversary of the massacre in which gunmen killed 57 people, including 32 media workers allegedly upon the orders of the Ampatuans.
Last year, Senator Joker Arroyo said it may take 200 years before the massacre victims could get justices for their slain relatives.

At the same time, Paraan reiterated their earlier appeal to Malacañang not to allow political expediency to allow Zaldy to escape the clutches of justice by using him as a witness against the alleged poll fraud in Maguindanao against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Zaldy have also signified his readiness to become a state witness against his father and brother but the Department of Justice has turned down his offer.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said President Benigno Aquino III instructed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to expedite procedures for the prosecution of those who are accused in the killings and make sure that there will be no more delays in the hearing of the case.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace hopes that the case will be resolved under the term of President Aquino.
The Palace official, however, noted that seeking justice for the slain victims cannot be done by the Executive branch alone, since it is the Judiciary that decides on the case.
“We recognize the fact that the case is under process and it’s not something that is entirely under the jurisdiction of the Executive,” Valte said.
President Aquino earlier said in a forum with foreign media that he likes to talk to the judges involved in the Maguindanao massacre trial but the Constitution does not grant him that authority.
“I have been working, however, on the secretary of Justice, especially the prosecutors under her control to try and ask why we have not been moving faster. So they have been exercising all the necessary steps within their purview to be able to expedite the whole process,” the President added.
More than 30 journalists and several other innocent civilians were killed on November 23, 2009 when private armed groups supposedly hired by the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao attacked the convoy of then gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu.
Various media groups reportedly plan to hold a month-long commemoration on the deaths of their slain colleagues beginning October 23 until November 23.
In a related development, NUJP and other media groups such as the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Philippine Press Institute started the month-long commemoration of the massacre with a social media campaign dubbed “Countdown to End Impunity.”

Paraan said the campaign include utilizing such medium as Facebook to reach out to more people and forums and lectures at various universities across the country.

She added that countdown timers will be placed in various websites while a traveling film entitled “Roadshow to End Impunity” will also be shown from November 15.

On November 15, media groups will hold a dialogue with concerned government and law enforcement agencies to press them to commit to their anti-impunity campaigns. (AH/Jill Beltran/Sunnex)
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/10/23/journalists-urge-court-arraign-massacre-suspects-186674

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