Maguindanao massacre victims’ kin seek psychosocial help

Relatives of the Maguindanao massacre victims on Wednesday asked a Quezon City court to order the government to give them “psychosocial" support to counter the trauma brought upon by the ongoing trial. In their 16-page motion, the petitioners told Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that the last several hearings had caused them “spontaneous emotional outburst" and that they started “suffering from trauma." “The private complainants seek support in the form of ‘psychosocial’ services to be provided to them during the pendency of this case . . . pursuant to the State’s obligations both under international law and relevant Philippine statutes," said Harry Roque, counsel for some of the victims. Roque said the “psychosocial" program for the relatives should be led by the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Interior and Local Government. The petitioners cited as basis for their request Section 1 of Rule 127 of the 2000 Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, which allows complainants to avail of “provisional remedies" in civil actions deemed instituted with the criminal action. They also said it is the government’s responsibility to provide remedies to victims of human rights violations under international law. They also said the long-established doctrine of “parens patriae" states that the government has the obligation to “afford remedies and reparation of victims." “The State need not wait for the trial of the perpetrators to finish before it can begin doing reparation," part of the petition read. Roque cited as example the case of Myrna Reblando, who went hysterical and hurled expletives at defense lawyers during a hearing last month. Reblando is the widow of slain Manila Bulletin reporter Alejandro “Bong" Reblando. It was not the first time that Reblando had gone into such an outburst. In October last year, she suddenly wailed during the hearing and had to be accompanied out of the court room. Medical personnel who attended to her found that her blood pressure had shot up. On Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes advised the relatives of the slain journalists to “refrain from wailing and shouting expletives... [because] the court might act on it." Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun, legal counsel for prominent suspects Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Andal Ampatuan Sr., objected to Roque’s petition, saying that his colleague in the prosecution seemed to have “downplayed things into an issue of security." “We could understand the situation of the relatives... But this is not a security issue. This is a breach of discipline. This is more about disrespecting the court proceedings," Fortun said. Solis-Reyes has set hearing for the said motion on Monday next week. While she noted Fortun’s reservations, the judge asked the defense lawyer to just submit his appropriate comment on the prosecution’s motion when the hearing begins. A total of 57 people, 32 of them journalists, were killed on Nov. 23, 2009 by armed men believed to be members of the Ampatuan clan’s private army. Among those killed were the wife and sisters of then Buluan vice mayor and now Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu. The Mangudadatus were political rivals of the Ampatuan clan. — KBK, GMA News