Ampatuan case judge relaxes policy vs gadgets in own courtroom

For the first time since the hearing on the Maguindanao massacre case started last January, mobile phones were allowed inside the courtroom on Thursday, making it easier for reporters covering the proceedings to send their stories to editors. At the usual venue at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, those attending the hearing — from reporters, lawyers, spectators, and jail guards — were barred from bringing recorders, laptops, cameras, and mobile phones inside the makeshift courtroom. The devices had to be deposited at the entrance of the jail facility, and everyone going in had to be frisked twice. Those who were not accredited by the Supreme Court to attend the trial were barred from entering. Hearings were being held at Camp Bagong Diwa for security reasons as most of the arrested high-profile suspects in the massacre are detained there. But on Thursday’s hearing at Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes’ courtroom inside the Quezon City Hall of Justice, reporters were allowed to take with them their mobile phones provided that they were on silent mode. Cameras, recorders, and laptops, however, were still not allowed inside. “Mas maluwag na ngayon kasi nakapagpasok na ng phone at hindi na nilalagak (They’re not as strict here because we can take our phones with us and we don’t need to deposit them)," said Dennis Carcamo of online news website Philstar.com. Carcamo said even if other digital devices were still not allowed, bringing in his mobile phone made his coverage easier. “Mas madali na akong nagkapag-break ng mga istorya. At kapag may magandang angulo nalalaman kaagad ng editor (I can easily send in breaking stories. And I get to immediately tell my editors if there are good angles to pursue)," he said. Solis-Reyes’ courtroom also came with WiFi connection, making it possible for reporters to e-mail their stories through their mobile phones. The judge decided to temporarily hold the trial inside her court room in Quezon City instead of in Taguig City - where the accused are detained - because only autopsy reports are currently being tackled and the suspects need not attend the hearings. Taking delight over the court’s relaxing of its security rules, private prosecutor Nena Santos, legal counsel for Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who lost his wife and two sisters in the massacre, said the court was not strict this time because the accused individuals were not present at the trial. The National Union of Journalists had earlier asked the Supreme Court to allow live coverage of the trial for transparency and to help the victims’ kin who could not make it to the proceedings to watch them on TV. The Supreme Court had earlier barred live coverage citing a jurisprudence that stemmed from past cases involving former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada. Defense lawyers in the massacre trial had already objected to a live coverage, saying it would be detrimental to their clients as it would lead to a trial by publicity. Among the accused in the Maguindanao massacre case are members of the powerful Ampatuan family, including its patriarch, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. - KBK, GMANews.TV