Raps eyed vs Andal Jr., jail execs over prison presscon

(Updated 6 p.m.) Lawyers representing families of the victims of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre will file contempt charges against jail officials who allowed Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., prime suspect in the case, to hold a press conference while in detention last Tuesday. Private lawyers Nena Santos and Pete Principe, representing families of 26 of the 57 massacre victims, noted that jail officials from the Metro Manila District Jail inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City are unauthorized to allow any detainee to hold such an event. "We will join the public prosecutors to cite the jail warden in contempt," Santos said after the arraignment of 11 suspects in the massacre on Wednesday. Principe said Andal Jr. could also be cited in contempt for the press conference. Palace denies hand in press conference In Malacañang, Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza asked Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to look into the matter. "I'll call the attention of the DILG secretary…There are rules and regulations kasi dito and that has to be followed very strictly," Mendoza said. Mendoza admitted that he himself is not aware if any laws were violated, adding that when he was still chief of the National Police, several prominent personalities under detention — former President Joseph Estrada and former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chair Nur Misuari — had been interviewed. But Mendoza stressed that Malacañang had no hand in Andal Jr.'s press conference. "Ang mahirap na sinisisi palagi ang Palasyo. Let’s be fair. Of course the President cannot give orders to jailers and she will never do that also."
At the press conference, Andal Jr. denied having close ties with Justice Sec. Alberto Agra, who ordered that his brother Zaldy Ampatuan and cousin Akmad Ampatuan be stricken off the charge sheet. He also endorsed the candidacies of presidential aspirant Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and vice presidential bet Manuel "Mar" Roxas II. Aquino and Roxas are running under the banner of the Liberal Party. Clad in a yellow shirt and wearing a yellow baller ID on his wrist, Andal Jr. said he believed that "real justice" could only be served under an Aquino administration. Ampatuan is facing 57 counts of murder, along with 196 other individuals including his father Andal Sr. and his brothers, for killing members of an electoral convoy last year. Authority Santos stressed that only the court has the authority to allow any detained individual to leave his detention cell. "I think it should be the court that should order his removal from the jail cell and he cannot conduct any press conference for that matter," she said. During Wednesday's arraignment, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes informed the prosecutors that she was not aware of the press conference. "I am not aware of that," she told the prosecution while summarizing the proceedings before ending the hearing. Principe, legal counsel for slain journalist Henry Araneta, said being prevented from leaving a detention to hold a press conference was part of the restrictions of any detainee. "What they [jail officials and Andal Jr.] did was unethical," he said. The lawyer said giving inmates the opportunity to speak in press conferences would only create "chaos." High-risk detainee Lawyer Harry Roque also blasted the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for allowing the holding of the press conference given that Andal Jr. was considered a "high-risk detainee." In his defense, Senior Inspector Lloyd Gonzaga, officer-in-charge at the jail facility where the Ampatuans are detained, stressed that the event was a "simple interview" and could not be considered a "press conference." Gonzaga said such interviews are allowed so long as the "correct process" is observed in speaking to the media. "Simpleng interview lang ito sa accused. Ito ay nangyari dahil may request at wala namang tutol ang attorney (It was just a simple interview and it happened because there was a request and the lawyer had not opposed)," he said. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV