Rally staged in front of CA over Ampatuan appeal

The camp of Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the high-profile suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case, has resorted to bribery in exchange for the dismissal of the multiple murder charges filed against him, a relative of one of the victims said Wednesday. “Pera-pera lang pala ito (It’s all about the money)," said Monette Salaysay, whose husband Napoleon was among the 32 journalists killed in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province.. “Hindi ako maniniwala na wala itong kapalit. Pera na naman, pera! (I will not believe this is in exchange for nothing. Money again, money!)" added an emotional Salaysay during a rally in front of the Court of Appeals in Manila.
Zaldy, son of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and a suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor, has asked the CA’s Special Eleventh Division to junk the case filed against him in connection with the massacre. The appellate court has yet to come up with a ruling. Leading members of the Ampatuan clan have been tagged as the masterminds of the massacre that left 57 people dead, with a 58th victim still missing, and is considered as the single worst case of electoral violence in the country. Zaldy, his father, and brother Andal Jr. are currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. “Speculative, baseless" Sought for comment, Zaldy’s lawyer, Howard Calleja, dismissed the accusation of bribery as “speculative" and “baseless." “It’s easy to allege anything. And at this point in time, there is no decision yet and even I don’t know what is going to happen. So the allegations are very speculative. I don’t even know their basis," Calleja told GMA News Online in a phone interview. Calleja also turned the tables on the relatives and asked them how they were able to get insider information that the CA is about to set Zaldy free. “I’m surprised they know the decision. Where did they get the information?" he said. Calleja said his client will not resort to bribing CA justices because he is confident that their petition will be granted, noting that the Department of Justice’s resolution finding probable cause to indict Zaldy was legally flawed and because “the merits of the case of our client are very strong." The DOJ resolution was issued May 5, 2010 by then acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra, who reversed his April 16 decision clearing Zaldy of involvement in the crime. Agra made the reversal after a new affidavit of a witness was presented before him. Due process On Wednesday, Calleja said the issuance of the May 5 resolution after the admission of the new evidence violated Zaldy’s right to due process because he was not given the opportunity to rebut allegations made in the new affidavit. “Upon the receipt of this new affidavit, within five days Agra decided against our client. Zaldy did not even receive [a copy of the affidavit]. How can we answer?" he said. “We are not questioning the decision on probable cause. We question not the merit, but the procedure in which the DOJ found probable cause," he added. —KBK/JV, GMA News