DOJ chief wants Ampatuans separated from other detained suspects

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has asked the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to separate detained members of the Ampatuan clan from some of their supporters who are also suspects in the Maguindanao massacre. De Lima’s request was made after a violent confrontation almost took place over the weekend at a BJMP-managed jail facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, the facility where the suspects are currently detained. Detained supporters of the Ampatuan clan who were supposedly harassed are local policemen and "would-be witnesses" in the November 23 carnage that killed 57 people. At a briefing on Thursday, De Lima said she already wrote to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who has direct supervision over the BJMP. "Over the weekend there was an almost violent confrontation. It did not materialize. That was the only thing reported to me. In the meantime, we made a request to Secretary Jesse Robredo to look for a separate facility within [Camp Bagong Diwa].... There is a possibility of intimidation, harassment, and attempts of bribery," she said in Pilipino. She likewise said the Supreme Court's Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) had received the Philippine National Police's approval to have some of the suspects transferred to the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City. The OCA will be the one to direct the court handling the massacre case to order the transfer of the suspects. Earlier, De Lima bared the supposed intimidation committed by Ampatuan clan members and their supporters against some police officers in Maguindanao also detained in Taguig City. [See: DOJ chief tags Ampatuan emissaries in bribe tries on 2 witnesses] Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 is handling the massacre case of which some members of the Ampatuan clam of Maguindanao are primary suspects. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV