Victims' kin seek inhibition of 2 CA justices handling Zaldy Ampatuan's plea

UPDATED 2:40 p.m. - The relatives of those who were slain in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao are seeking the inhibition of two Court of Appeals (CA) associate justices handling the petition of one of the members of the powerful Ampatuan clan. The relatives, represented by lawyer Harry Roque, sought the inhibition of Associate Justices Danton Buesser and Marlene Gonzales-Sison, both members of the Court of Appeals' Eleventh Division. The division is handling former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan's petition to junk the multiple murder charges him filed by the Justice Department. Their inhibition from the deliberations on Zaldy Ampatuan's petition was sought because Buesser and Gonzales-Sison had inhibited themselves from deliberations on clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.'s petition seeking the dismissal of the multiple murder case against him. They said their inhibition from the patriarch's case also warrants their inhibition from that of Zaldy. "It is a wonder to see that the same Honorable Justices -- Buesser and Gonzales-Sison -- have not done the same in this instant case that essentially involves the same facts and the same legal controversy, with only differnce that the petitioner in this second case is the son o fthe petitioner in the first case," said a portion of the 11-page motion for inhibition. The relatives likewise asked Buesser and Gonzales-Sison too explain why they inhibited themselves from Andal Sr.'s case. "With all due repect, private respondents [relatives of the victims] believe the incongruent actions of the two honorable members of this court in relation to the two cases are actionable as grounds for a motion for their inhibition from any further participation in this proceeding," they said. On May 5 last year, former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra sustained the filing of charges against Zaldy Ampatuan and former Mamasapano, Maguindanao Mayor Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan, Zaldy's cousin. Zaldy and Akmad have separately asked the CA to nullify Agra's resolution. Agra's May 5 resolution In the May 5 resolution, Agra reversed his own April 16 ruling that cleared the two Ampatuans of involvement in the carnage that killed 57 people in Ampatuan town, one of the clan's strongholds in Maguindanao province. The massacre was described as the worst election violence in Philippine history. Clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. are among the key suspects in the massacre. In petitions with the CA, Zaldy and Akmad accused Agra of committing grave abuse of discretion for the May 5 resolution, which gave weight to the testimony of witness Abdul Talusan. Zaldy and Akmad argued that Talusan was not introduced as a witness during the preliminary investigation at the Justice Department. They also said the department's earlier recommendation to include them in the charge sheet was based on sworn statements of witnesses that included incumbent Maguindano Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, Nasser Abdul, and Kenny Dalandag. – RSJ/VVP, GMA News