DOJ holds Maguindanao case conference

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday spearheaded her department's conference to strengthen its case concerning the massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province last November 23. Members of the Philippine National Police attended the event. Also expected to attend are state prosecutors handling the case as well as National Bureau of Investigation director Magtanggol Gatdula and his subordinates.

The prosecution panel is headed by Richard Anthony Fadullon and has as its members Senior State Prosecutors Rosanne Balauag, Leo Dacera III, Lamberto Fabros, Juan Pedro Navera, Irwin Malaya, Aldrin Evangelista, Alexander Suarez, Amanda Felipe, Liezel Morales, Niven Canlapan and Prosecuting Attorney Xerxes Garcia. The trial for the multiple murder case against the suspects, which include members of the powerful Ampatuan clan and their alleged private militiamen, has been temporarily suspended by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes. The conference was ongoing as of posting time. Reporters were barred from covering the event, but De Lima was expected to discuss the matter later in the day. — Sophia Dedace/RSJ, GMANews.TV