Ampatuan kin files libel suit vs massacre victims' lawyer

A member of the powerful Ampatuan clan has filed a libel complaint against University of the Philippines College of Law professor Harry Roque, counsel for some family members of victims in the gruesome November 23 massacre in Maguindanao. In a statement on Monday, Roque's law office CenterLaw said Bai Ameerah A. Mamalapat asked for P50 milllion in damages and sued Roque for libel last July 13 before the Cotabato City Prosecutor's Office. CenterLaw said Mamalapat is the daughter of patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and sister of principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town. However, GMANews.TV's research showed she is not among the patriarch's nine children. The only available information about Mamalapat is that she ran for Shariff Saydona Mustapha town vice mayor last elections but lost. GMA News Research showed that Mamalapat was not among th winners who belonged to the Ampatuan clan. (See: Ampatuan clan the biggest winner in May 2010 polls) GMANews.TV tried to reach the Region 12 Prosecutor's Office, which supervises the Cotabato City branch, but it could not be contacted. Three others submitted their complaint affidavits supporting Mamalapat's complaint. Public prosecutor Cairoden Pangunotan is conducting the preliminary investigation, said CenterLaw. The libel case stemmed from Roque's interview on ANC television program Headstart. In the interview, Roque tagged workers of the Ampatuan clan as the culprits behind the killing of would-be witness Suwaib Upham, who used the pseudonym "Jesse." Upham was killed last June 14 in Parang, Maguindanao. He earlier testified that former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Andal Sr.'s son, was among the plotters of the November 23 carnage that killed 57 people. 'Unafraid' In its statement, CenterLaw quoted Roque as saying that the law firm will not be intimidated by Mamalapat's libel complaint. "Clearly, this case is only meant to harass, badger and delay but CenterLaw will not be cowed by it," said Roque. For a statement or article to be deemed libelous, the Revised Penal Code says that it should contain malicious imputations to discredit and dishonor a person. Mamalapat and the three other complainants supposedly felt Roque's pronouncements in the interview maligned them. However, CenterLaw finds said it is "amusing' the complainants felt maligned by accusations that the Ampatuan workers were involved in Upham's killing, when many of them and the clan's supporters have been charged with multiple murder in connection with the massacre in Ampatuan town. — RSJ, GMANews.TV