Filtered By: Topstories
News

DOJ to remind QC court to immediately resume Ampatuan trial


Eight months after the Ampatuan massacre, Justice secretary Leila de Lima said that she would not hesitate to ask the Quezon City court handling the multiple murder case, by way of "a friendly reminder to the judge," to immediately resume proceedings. De Lima said that the trial for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao in November 2009 was the "most important and watched event" in the country, and should not be delayed further. "Kung wala pa kaming makuhang order on the resumption, (If we don't get an order), we can already file a motion to the court seeking for the immediate resumption of trial," she said. In a resolution, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 earlier ordered the resumption of the murder trial and set June 28 as the date for the arraignment of the six policemen charged with the multiple murder. Although she expressed the need for a speedy resolution to the case, De Lima also said she understood Judge Solis-Reyes' situation, given that a number of pending motions from both camps have yet to be resolved. "Pero ilang months na kasi ang nakakalipas (Still, so many months have already passed). So I think we have to do that as a friendly reminder to the judge," De Lima said. De Lima warned that the families of the victims and witnesses in the case are exposed to more danger with each passing day that proceedings remain stalled. "The more na nade-delay iyan (The more the case is delayed), the more prone witnesses are for intimidation, harassment, bribery or worse, liquidation," she said. Suwaib Upham, a self-confessed gunman in the gruesome crime who had indicated he was ready to turn state witness, was killed in Maguindanao in June after failing to secure government protection. Earlier, De Lima said that emissaries of the powerful Ampataun clan — which, despite the murder raps against them, had succeeded in putting the most number of family members of any Philippine political clan in office in the last elections — had tried bribing witnesses at least twice. De Lima also said that she has "no problems" with the idea of opening the actual proceedings to media coverage. "But everything is left to the discretion of the judge," she added. The Supreme Court had earlier decided to ban live coverage of the trial proper, on the grounds that it could lead to a "trial by publicity." Several media groups loudly protested the decision, even as private prosecutors in the case had filed manifestation to lift the ban. —TJD/JV, GMANews.TV

Tags: DOJ, QC, ampatuan
LOADING CONTENT