Kin of massacre victims file disbarment case vs Agra

The families of the victims of last year's mass slaughter in Maguindanao province filed on Thursday a disbarment case against Justice Secretary Alberto Agra over his April 16 decision clearing two main suspects in the carnage. Lawyer Harry Roque Jr., representing families of 12 of 32 journalists and media workers slain in the November 23 massacre, filed the complaint before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Pasig City. The IBP is the national organization of lawyers in the Philippines, with about 40,000 members. It is also the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers. In their complaint, the petitioners cited three grounds for the disbarment of Agra, who also sits concurrently as solicitor general. The complainants said the Justice secretary violated Canon 1 of the IBP Code of Professional Responsibility, which states that: "A lawyer shall uphold the Constitution, obey the laws of the land, and promote respect for law and legal processes." They also said that Agra should be disbarred for "deceit and gross misconduct in office" as well as for making a decision that was "manifestly contradictory to jurisprudence." GMANews.TV tried to reach Agra for his comments, but calls made to his mobile phone went unanswered. Agra obtained a law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1990, and passed the Bar Exams a year later. In 1993, he became a professor of laws at the Ateneo School of Law, where he taught Law on Public/Government Corporations, Election Law, the 1991 Local Government Code, Administrative Law, and Law on Public Officers.

'Denial of due process' In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Roque slammed Agra for not furnishing the camp of the families of the victims a copy of his decision absolving Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan. "That's denial of due process. His April 16 decision was irregular and there were breaches to the rule of ethics," Roque said. Section 5 of the Rule 139-B of the Rules of Court (Disbarment and Discipline of Attorneys) states that if the complaint is deemed meritorious, the respondent will be given 15 days to answer the accusations hurled against him. On Wednesday, other families of victims of the November 23 massacre warned they would be asking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to remove Agra as Justice secretary if he does not reverse his controversial decision on the massacre case. Agra had insisted he would stand by his order, saying that it is still the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221, which is handling the multiple murder case, which has a final say whether to set Zaldy and Akmad free. The Palace has already directed Agra to confer with prosecutors to determine if any important evidence had been overlooked when his controversial ruling was made. Private lawyers claim that Agra "ignored" some evidence when he reviewed documents used for the DOJ resolution that recommended the filing of murder charges against 197 individuals. Witness tags Zaldy In his affidavit, "star witness" Kenny Dalandag, a supposed member of the Ampatuans' private army, said he saw Zaldy inside the mansion of his father and clan patriarch Andal Sr. in Shariff Aguak, a day before the massacre or on Nov. 22, 2009. Dalandag claimed hearing Andal Sr. giving instructions to kill everyone in the electoral convoy of the Mangudadatus. But Agra said documentary evidence had shown that Zaldy was not at the crime scene when the massacre took place and neither was he inside the mansion on the date that Dalandag claimed to have seen the ARMM governor. Agra said cellphone records presented by Zaldy's camp show that the ARMM governor was in Davao City, and not in Maguindanao, on the day the Ampatuans was reportedly cooking up plans for the massacre. He also noted that while his department had found probable cause in the multiple murder charges against Ampatuan clan patriarch Andal Sr. and Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Jr., there was "no evidence" that Zaldy and Akmad had conspired in the killings. — RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV