Aquino formally asks SC to allow live coverage of Ampatuan trial

President Benigno Aquino III has formally asked the Supreme Court to allow the live coverage of the trial on the Maguindanao massacre, the worst incident of election-related violence in the country's recent history. Aquino sent his letter to Chief Justice Renato Corona on Monday, on the eve of the Nov. 23, 2009 anniversary of the mass slaughter of 57 people, including 32 journalists, by hundreds of men believed to be members of the Ampatuan clan's private army. "You and I, and the respective independent branches of government we head, are duty-bound to uphold the Constitution and our laws. We are all bound to ensure that justice is done, and her interests served," Aquino said in his letter. "Furthermore, we need to make people aware of, and convinced that, justice is being done and her interest served. This can be done by making the trial of important and sensational cases such as the Maguindanao Massacre case, public," he added. Aquino said "a trial conducted in full public view, with the entire nation and the world allowed to witness the proceedings, sends the message that justice can and will be dispensed without fear or favor and in the full light of day." He said permitting live coverage of the trial will be a "great consolation" to relatives of the massacre victims and other citizens. The victims' relatives' camp had previously lamented that attending the weekly hearings were a burden to the families who live in 'Mindanao because they have to travel back and fort to Manila. Aquino said allowing the trial to be seen by the pubic will also "teach us the important lessons of history." "It will be educational for the rest of the people to find out what actually transpired, the reasons behind the atrocity, and what steps should be done to prevent the same from happening again. The more who participate in this great teaching and corrective experience, the faster and the greater the chances will be, of this tragedy never being repeated again," he said. Petition before SC On Friday, a number of media organizations headed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to allow the live broadcast of the multiple murder trial of suspects in the massacre. Aquino asked Corona to act on the petition with "dispatch, dispassion and humaneness." The petition asked the court to, among others, "abandon" its October 1991 ruling that denied the request to air the live coverage of the trial of former President Corazon Aquino's libel case against journalist Louie Beltran and its June 2001 ruling that denied the request to air the live coverage of former President Joseph Estrada's plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan. In the 1991 and 2001 decisions, the court said the right of the accused to a fair trial is more important than freedom of the press and the public's right to know. The 1991 decision said media have "no special standing" in a trial and massive intrusion of media representatives in court proceedings can "alter or destroy" the judicial atmosphere. The 2001 decision, on the other hand, said live coverage might cause undue prejudice to the accused because he may be subjected to trial by publicity. It also banned the use of cellular phones, cameras, and simple recording devices. "The Court is not all that unmindful of recent technological and scientific advances but to chance forthwith the life or liberty of any person in a hasty bid to use and apply them, even before ample safety nets are provided and the concerns heretofore expressed are aptly addressed, is a price too high to pay," the court said. The petitioners, however, contested this and said that if the accused need to have their rights protected, the public also need to have their right to know upheld. "It is counter-intuitive and counter-productive to maintain that impartiality is to be guaranteed to an accused while it is denied to the people. Due process as embodied in Section 1 of the Bill of Rights (Article III of the Constitution) therefore warrants that both society and a private offended party are entitled to an impartial trial, too," the petitioners said. "As an accused’s right to a public trial is constitutionally acknowledged, similarly, the people have the correlative right have a trial opened to the public," they added. Massacre victims Fifty-seven bodies — 25 civilians and 32 media practitioners — were found on a grassy hilltop in Ampatuan town in Mindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. The body of the supposed 58th victim — that of Tacurong City-based Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo "Bebong" Momay — remains unaccounted for. The victims were in a convoy on their way to file the candidacy of then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu when they were flagged down by several armed men and brought to a grassy hilltop in Sitio Masalay. There, the victims were shot and buried allegedly upon orders from then Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who surrendered to authorities on Nov. 26, 2009 and is now under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation. Andal Jr. and 195 others, including his father and other relatives, policemen and militiamen, are facing 57 counts of murder for the carnage. So far, 82 suspects have been arrested but more than 100 remain at large. — RSJ, GMANews.TV