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Agra won't form panel to review decision — report


(Updated 1:33 p.m.) Justice Secretary Alberto Agra has decided not to form a review panel that would re-consider his decision to clear two Ampatuan clan members from murder charges stemming from the brutal November 23 massacre in Maguindanao. In his report, GMA News' Chino Gaston said Agra he will just release a decision on the motion for reconsideration filed by relatives of the 57 massacre victims. Agra said he will not give further statements to the media regarding the case until he releases the department's decision on the motion for reconsideration, the report said. "I will not inhibit myself in resolving the MR. I will not create a panel. My faith in my own objectivity has not been shaken for there is no reason for me to doubt myself," Agra said.

The report said the justice secretary called Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano and Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Fadullon to a meeting to consult them about the motion for reconsideration. The two prosecutors led the protest over Agra's decision to drop murder charges charges against Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and Akmad Ampatuan Sr., mayor of Mamasapano town in Maguindanao. Reporters later asked Fadullon why several employees were wearing black ribbons. "Just to remind us that there is still this thing that's hanging on our heads that I think has to be resolved," he said. Just last week, Agra said he was considering forming a panel to review his decision. Relatives of massacre victims earlier warned that they would ask President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to remove Agra from the Justice department if he replaces the panel of prosecutors that investigated the case. The Palace had earlier distanced itself from the controversy, claiming Agra's decision was purely his own, and that Mrs. Arroyo did not influence him to do so. On Sunday, however, deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said the emergence of a new witness linking the two Ampatuans to the massacre may prompt Agra to reconsider his order clearing them of murder charges. — Johanna Camille Sisante/RSJ, GMANews.TV
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