Ampatuan prosecution: Hearing expert witnesses may be over in two weeks

It wouldn't be long before the last expert witness from prosecution takes the witness stand in the Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre trial. Deputy Chief State Prosecutor Anthony Richard Fadullon said they only have two more medico-legal experts to present in the sala of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221. It would probably be not more than two weeks for the two expert witnesses to discuss details of the autopsy reports on the remains of the 11 remaining victims. The prosecution is presenting seven medico-legal experts. So far, the prosecution has already presented five medico-legal experts from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who have autopsied more than 50 of the 57 massacre victims. The expert witnesses included PNP's Dr. Dean Cabrera, who autopsied 12 victims, and Dr. Felino Brunia Jr., who autopsied 14 bodies; NBI's Ricardo Rodaje, who autopsied eight victims, and Dr. Rupert Sumbilon, who examined two remains. At the pace that it's presenting witnesses, the prosecution is so far right on track to expedite the proceedings, Fadullon said. "We have to remember this is not an ordinary case. This is really big. And at the rate we are going, this is still okay," according to the deputy state prosecutor. In the seven months that the Quezon City court has been hearing testimonies since January 2010, the prosecution has already presented 18 witnesses, Fadullon noted. The trial started in with the bail proceedings for prime suspect and former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. More than a month later, hearings were suspended due to the sheer number of pending motions filed by both camps and which Solis-Reyes had to first resolve. The actual proceedings resumed only in September at a new venue at the Quezon City Jail Annex inside Camp Bagong Diwa where the more than 80 suspects in the crime are detained. But Fadullon cautioned that even after presenting the two remaining experts in two weeks' time, the proceedings could still drag on a little longer "depending on how long it would take defense lawyers to cross examine them." Fatal gunshot wounds In Wednesday's hearing, NBI medico-legal expert Ricardo Rodaje, who autopsied eight bodies including that of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu's wife, Genalin, resumed on the witness stand. In his testimony, he discussed the autopsy reports on the remains of victims Gina dela Cruz, Marife Cordova, and Marites Cablitas, who all sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Rodaje said the three died from fatal gunshot wounds. For instance, Cablitas sustained at least nine gunshot wounds. The expert said some of the bullets "hit the lower lobe of her lungs, compromising her respiration, and damaged her right liver." Several metallic fragments, believed to be from firearms, were recovered from Cablitas' body and were submitted to regional police officers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for ballistics examination. — VS, GMA News