Request to suspend Maguindanao massacre trial 'premature,' prosecution says

Former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.'s request to suspend the murder trial regarding the November 23 massacre was "premature" since the clan patriarch is not yet formally included in the court proceedings. This is the argument raised by the prosecution when it filed on Wednesday an opposition to Ampatuan's motion to suspend the proceedings being conducted by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 for over two months now. In his motion filed on February 26, the clan patriarch said the murder proceedings should be suspended because his camp still has "the right to file his petition for review with the Department of Justice." On February 9, the DOJ recommended the filing of 57 counts of murder against Ampatuan Sr. and 196 others who allegedly had direct and indirect participation in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. But the court has yet to resolve the prosecution's motion to admit amended information, that seeks to include the 196 other individuals in the murder trial being held for Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. at Camp Crame. "Since these amended information have yet to be admitted, the Honorable Court has no jurisdiction yet over the person of accused Ampatuan Sr. Consequently, the Court cannot grant the relief of suspension prayed for accused Ampatuan Sr.," the prosecution said in its opposition. The prosecution filed its opposition five days after it obtained a copy of the defense's motion for suspension of proceedings. Besides the move to amend information and to suspend proceedings, a flurry of other pending motions has yet to be resolved by the Quezon City Court. This was the reason why Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes decided to indefinitely suspend the hearings last February 24. Other unresolved petitions included the defense's motions for recusation or inhibition of Solis-Reyes, as well as a motion to admit supplemetal grounds for inhibition. The defense accused Solis-Reyes of being "biased" against the suspect and "inept" in applying court procedures in the trial. In its motion for supplemental recusation filed February 24, the defense also said “the barrage of adverse publicity has rendered impartiality an impossibility." The defense camp noted that it had already filed four show cause motions against the prosecution in the past, but the court has yet to resolve them. "Prosecutorial misconduct has made this predicament even worse," the defense added. "When the judge tolerates these transgressions, she lends credence to a fearless display of power play at the expense of due process," it said. Another hearing stemming from the November 23 massacre — the rebellion case against several members of the Ampatuan clan and armed civilians — has yet to resume. In its last hearing on February 16, the prosecution presented documents including intelligence reports that would supposedly prove rebellion was happening in Maguindanao and justify the imposition of martial law in the province and other areas in the region last December 4. However, the defense noted that photographs of military operations during military rule were missing from the pieces of evidence presented the prosecution. The defense then moved to suspend the hearing alleging that the prosecution seemed "unprepared." The Ampatuan camp later asked Judge Vivencio Baclig of the QC-RTC Branch 77 to inhibit from the case, citing his alleged "partiality" in favor of the accusers. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV