Ampatuan multiple murder trial suspended indefinitely

A local court handling the multiple murder trial of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. on Wednesday suspended indefinitely the proceedings until all pending motions filed before it are resolved. As part of court procedures, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 deferred the hearing to give both parties time to comment on or reply to at least four motions filed separately since trial started in January. The pending motions include the motion to admit amended information filed by the prosecution, motion for inhibition, motion to admit supplemental grounds for inhibition, and motion to defer the proceedings - all filed by the defense panel. Lawyer Pete Principe, private counsel for one of the 57 victims, said that under court rules, a party is allowed to file a comment within 10 days of receipt of a motion. However, the prosecution only received a copy of the defense's motion to admit supplemental grounds for inhibition on Monday at 5 p.m. "Temporarily, she will not set any hearing until such time that the pending incidence of supplemental recusation and motion to admit information [has been commented on]," said assistant chief state prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon. Fadullon said they have yet to receive a copy of the motion to defer hearings. He wondered why the defense opted to furnish the prosecution copies of their motions via registered mail, when it could have sent them by personal service. "So we took it upon ourselves to secure copies of the [defense's] motions to expedite the proceedings." Part of the procedures But both Fadullon and Principe said they respected Solis-Reyes's decision to suspend the proceedings. "Hindi naman masasabing delay ito. It's part of the procedures," Principe said. Prosecution lawyers estimated all motions to be resolved in two weeks' time at the earliest. Another prosecution lawyer, Nena Santos, said she has manifested to Judge Solis-Reyes during the sidebar, the prosecution's desire to expedite the hearings because the lives of the witnesses and their families are being "jeopardized." She said a cousin of another prosecution witness, whom Santos identified only as one "PO1 Abus," survived an assassination plot, despite sustaining five gunshot wounds. Court records show a certain PO1 Rainer Ebus as being one of the policemen charged in connection with the massacre. "He will tell us in his dying declaration who ordered and shot him... In the meantime, while we are waiting for the continuance of our hearing, our witnesses are being in danger as well as their families," Santos said. Wednesday's hearing, which was attended by Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, came after a two-week delay that began when the defense asked the deferment of the hearing last February 10 to give time for the amendment of information. The defense wanted the lawyers of 196 other murder suspects in the massacre to play catch up with the proceedings on Andal Jr., who was already being tried for the last two months. At the same time, the defense also accused Solis-Reyes of being biased against the suspect and moved for her inhibition from the case. The judge has yet to act on the motion. The prosecution has so far presented six witnesses, including Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who lost his wife, two sisters and other relatives in the mass slaughter in Ampatuan town. - RSJ, GMANews.TV