Mangudadatu lawyer: 'We didn't want to have a mistrial'

Private prosecutor Nena Santos on Wednesday revealed that performance was not the only issue behind the replacement of her public counterparts in the panel prosecuting the Ampatuan multiple murder case. Santos admitted she and other private lawyers feared that the high-profile case, which involves the massacre of at least 57 victims in Maguindanao in November 2009, could end up in a "mistrial" because the public prosecutors – as she said she found out – were not authorized to handle the case in the first place. "There was no official designation," Santos told reporters after Wednesday's resumption of proceedings for the multiple murder trial. The lawyer said she had earlier learned that no order from the Department of Justice (DOJ) has ever been issued for Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and five other state prosecutors in the case. "Actually, nag-try sila na mag-secure ng [Fadullon's team tried to get a] department order from former Justice Sec. Agnes Devanadera pero hindi sila binigyan [but they were not provided one]," Santos said. The lawyer said when Devanadera – at that time preparing for her candidacy in the May 2010 elections – turned over her post to acting Justice Sec. Alberto Agra, Fadullon's team tried once more to secure the same order but to no avail. "Kaya nang malaman naman iyan ni Sec. de Lima [who was Agra's successor], nag-decide na siyang tanggalin na lang," Santos said. (So when Sec. de Lima, Agra’s successor, learned of the situation, she decided to just remove them.) Mangudadatu's legal counsel said the reshuffle was not only meant to improve interaction among prosecution lawyers but also to ensure that the defense would not grab at the opportunity to cry a mistrial. Santos admitted that the Fadullon team's repeated failure to secure a department order from at least two past Justice secretaries led them to lose trust in the private prosecutors. From that time on, Santos said she observed caution whenever she was dealing with her public counterparts in the prosecution. "That's why we survived this case. We didn't allow them to have access to our witnesses," Santos admitted. Santos also belied an earlier pronouncement by newly appointed lead prosecutor Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III that a "battle of egos" was the biggest factor in the reshuffle. Baraan belonged to the new set of public prosecutors that replaced Fadullon's team in handling the case. "There was no ego involved. We were just trying to cure things," Santos said. Santos and De Lima, who have been classmates at the San Beda Law School but did not graduate in the same year, early on allayed speculations that their being from the same school affected how De Lima (Class of 1985) favored Santos (Class 1984) over Fadullon's team. Fadullon too was a San Beda Law School graduate and belonged to the Class of 1987, while Baraan belonged to the Class of 1979. Also on Wednesday, Gov. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu – who lost his wife and two sisters in the November 23, 2009 massacre – admitted he felt "happier" with the new set of public prosecutors. Aside from Fadullon, those replaced were state prosecutors composed of Juan Pedro Navera, Irwin Maraya, Amanda Felipe and Karla Cabel. Replacing them were Baraan, Assistant Regional State Prosecutor Peter Medalle, Assistant State Prosecutors Amor Robles, Nestor Lazaro, Romeo Martin Serenilla, and Assistant City Prosecutor Liezel Morales.—JV, GMA News