Ampatuan prosecutor: ‘Game-planning’ with De Lima urgent now

A private prosecutor in the Ampatuan massacre trial on Thursday stressed the urgency of meeting with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to re-organize the game plan of the prosecution. Lawyer Harry Roque, who represents families of 14 of the 57 victims of the 2009 massacre in Maguindanao, expressed alarm over the cancellation of Thursday's hearing because a ballistician failed to prove his credibility as a prosecution witness. Elmer Nelson Piedad, a senior ballistician at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), took the witness stand Thursday but failed to proceed with his testimony after the defense pointed out he had no resume and other supporting documents to back up his expertise. "Imagine, he was already the most senior official of the NBI tapos ku-kuwestiyunin iyong credentials niya [then his credentials would be put into question]," Roque told reporters after Thursday's hearing. Roque noted it was the first instance, since trial of the high-profile case started in January 2010, that proceedings have been deferred due to doubts cast on a witness' credibility. Roque said it was now high time to meet with the Justice secretary and discuss how to handle the case now that a new set of private prosecutors have been assigned to the case. The replacement came amid perceived squabbles between private and public prosecutors handling the case. De Lima said she replaced six public prosecutors because they apparently lacked "zeal and aggressiveness" in the case. The replaced prosecutors, led by Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon, said they respected De Lima's decision, but belied the Justice chief’s insinuation that they were not performing as expected. Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III earlier said "egos got in the way" of the prosecutors, with public and private lawyers having "different directions" on how to pursue the case. Private prosecutor Nena Santos, legal counsel for Maguindanao governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, had already said her being a classmate of De Lima at the San Beda Law School did not in any way influence the decision to have a reshuffle. Roque said he was hoping to have de Lima "facilitate" the meeting "very soon." Rushing to the side of Piedad, assistant city prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo Jr. said it was not the NBI ballistician's fault that he failed to bring documents to support his expertise. Ocampo said Piedad was only informed Wednesday afternoon that he was going to take the witness stand on Thursday. "Maybe he's preoccupied with other functions [at the] NBI, being a ballistician. [Maybe] it's a case of inadvertence," Ocampo said. It was already the second time in one week that proceedings were suspended. On Wednesday, Solis-Reyes also postponed the hearing because a prosecution witness was down with the flu. [See related: Wanted: More than 100 suspects in Ampatuan massacre] —JV, GMA News