Murder case vs Ampatuan Sr. will stand on its own — DOJ

Government lawyers on Tuesday guaranteed that rebellion charges to be filed against Andal Ampatuan Sr. would not weaken a separate case for multiple murder that the clan patriarch may face in connection with the massacre of 57 persons in Maguindanao two weeks ago. Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said the rebellion and multiple murder charges that the government is slapping on the patriarch are separate and should not affect each other. “[The rebellion charges] will proceed separately with the multiple murder charges. Magkaiba ‘yan (These are different). They are independent of each other," Devanadera said, allaying fears that the murder charges would be “absorbed" once the rebellion charges are filed. In an interview with GMA News’ Arnold Clavio, Devanadera said rebellion is based on the Ampatuans' alleged amassing of arms against the state and their reported plan of “putting up their own government" in Maguindanao province. On Monday, the Justice chief said they were set to file rebellion charges against Andal Sr., Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and possibly 22 others. The Justice department said it would file the indictment before a Cotabato court on Tuesday afternoon. But radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo quoted State Prosecutor Leo Dacera as saying that they might have to defer the filing since it is a holiday in Cotabato on Tuesday. In her 20-page report to Congress, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo justified her declaration of martial law in Maguindanao, saying "lawless elements have taken up arms and committed public uprising against the duly constituted government and against the people of Maguindanao." Rebellion vs multiple murder Lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles, however, thinks that the rebellion charges would not stand in the absence of rebellion itself. Article 134 of the Revised Penal Code says rebellion is committed "by rising publicly and taking arms against the government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said government or its laws… depriving the Chief Executive or Legislature, wholly or partially, of any of their powers or prerogatives." Angeles said there should be an “actual rebellion" and not just threats of an uprising. “You can charge them with rebellion if there is an overt act. It is easy to acquit them of rebellion because it will be difficult to prove that there is an actual rebellion happening. There does not appear any overt act of rebellion and taking up of arms," Angeles told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. From criminal to political? Critics of martial law have voiced fears that the murder charges would be subsumed and weakened by the rebellion charges and lead to the exoneration of the accused. Butch Abad, campaign manager of the Liberal Party, earlier said the status of the Ampatuans would be elevated from criminal to political offenders by charging them with rebellion. Angeles said rebellion is a political offense while multiple murder is criminal. Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, also said rebellion is a bailable offense unless the accused is proven to be the leader, while multiple murder, a capital offense, is nonbailable. Colmenares further noted that those found guilty of rebellion can be granted amnesty, while those convicted of murder do not have the same privilege. — NPA/RSJ, GMANews.TV