Mangudadatu, others seek disbarment of Ampatuan lawyer

A disbarment case has been filed against the lawyer for the two key suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case for allegedly delaying the trial proceedings. On Monday, Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu and four others filed a 33-page complaint against lawyer Sigfrid Fortun whom they accused of “engaging in every conceivable chicanery or artifice to unduly delay the proceedings by using and abusing legal remedies available." Fortun represents Ampatuan clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and son Andal Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao. The two allegedly ordered the killing of 57 people, including relatives of Mangudadatu and over 30 journalists, in Ampatuan town on November 23, 2009. The four other complainants were Nenita Oquendo, Dennis Ayon, Gemma Oquendo, and the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists. Lawyer Prima Quinsayas filed the petition on their behalf. “Respondent Attorney Fortun had astutely embarked in an untiring quest to obstruct, impede, and degrade the administration of justice by filing countless ancillary motions and initiating suits based on imaginary causes of action, all in the hope of burying the principal issue of his client’s participation or guilt in the murder of 57 people that ill-fated day of 23 November 2009," the petitioners said. GMANews.TV tried to contact Fortun but he could not be reached as of posting time. Andal Jr. can’t speak Filipino or English The petitioners accused Fortun of engaging in “deceitful conduct" when he claimed in one of the hearings that Andal Jr. cannot speak Tagalog or English, only Maguindanaoan. They noted that GMA News and ABS-CBN News both have television footage of Andal Jr. speaking in Filipino on his first night in detention at the National Bureau of Investigation on Nov. 26, 2010. The petitioners said the news interviews “belie Fortun’s claim that [Andal Jr.] speaks and understands only Maguindanaoan, and showed that both accused [Andal Jr.] and respondent Fortun engaged in dishonest and deceitful conduct before the trial court." They said Fortun’s so-called lie was a violation of Canon 1 and Rules 1.01 and 1.02 of the Code of Professional Responsibility for lawyers. “A lawyer who knowingly lies through his teeth using his legal knowledge even the same is to further his client’s cause is a clear and present danger to the rule of law and to the legal system," they said. Hoodwinked? The petitioners also said Fortun tricked the prosecution panel and the court into “agreeing to temporarily suspend or defer bail proceedings after it was manifested that an additional 196 other accused would be indicted." They said Fortun used the tactic to file a pleading seeking the inhibition of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, who is handling the case. In the conduct of the trial since January, Fortun has filed at least six motions seeking Reyes’ inhibition. All motions have been dismissed. “Undoubtedly, Fortun misled the trial court or allowed the trial court to be misled when he made the prosecution and the trial court believe that it was for orderly and expeditious proceedings that he requested deferment of the bail hearing," they said. Sidetracked from real issues The petitioners likewise said Fortun used delaying tactics to veer the court from focusing on the real issues of the case. They said Fortun “flooded the trial court with motions after motions, pleadings after pleadings, for the slightest grounds and flimsy reasons." They also accused him of gross misconduct and obstruction of justice. “All the foregoing clearly shows Fortun is guilty of deceit, malpractice or gross misconduct, and violation of the lawyers’ oath, which are grounds for disbarment or suspension of a member of the Bar from his office as attorney," they said. - KBK, GMANews.TV