Andal Sr. pleads not guilty in massacre case

UPDATED 1:30 p.m. - For the first time since being charged for the Maguindanao massacre in 2009, clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. on Wednesday faced the court and pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of murder. With the help of a court interpreter, Andal Sr. entered his plea before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 in Taguig City. The relatives of the victims who were in the court loudly cried in anguish as Andal Sr. entered his not guilty plea, prompting his lawyer to file a motion to exclude the relatives from the hearing. "This is a court of law, not a marketplace," exclaimed Defense Counsel Sigfrid Fortun, who was beside his client, Andal Sr., a mere three meters away from the relatives of the victims and Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu during the plea. "Private prosecutor Nena Santos moved to the back of the court before the plea, she should have been able to stop (the outcry), but she didn't," he added. "It was planned precisely for the purposes of creating a ruckus," he said. "The prosecution tolerated it, it makes [them] liable for not preventing it. If you did not plan it, then why was (the reaction) simultaneous?" Fortun added. But Santos said she moved to the back of the court precisely to stop the relatives from making any reaction. "Paano akong magkukumpas, eh kaya nga ako andun para magkontrol," she said in an interview on the sidelines of the hearing. Judge Solis-Reyes, however, ordered that the relatives could stay provided they did not make another round of commotion. Another not guilty plea Apart from Andal Sr., also arraigned on Wednesday was another suspect, Nicomedes Tolentino alias Mohammad Datumanong, who also pleaded not guilty to the same charges. Tolentino's lawyer on May 27 filed a motion to quash information, saying his client never admitted that he was the person with the alias "Mohammad Datumanong." The judge, however, said Tolentino's lawyer was making a mockery of the court because the same lawyer filed a motion to arraign his client in March this year. Asked what his reaction was to the charges filed against him, Tolentino did not respond immediately, prompting his lawyer to reiterate the points in their motion to quash information. Judge Solis-Reyes, however, directed Tolentino to speak, to which he responded "not guilty." Atty. Paris Real, Tolentino's lawyer, however asked the court to withdraw his client's plea and enter no plea instead, citing again their earlier motion. But Judge Solis-Reyes only acknowledged the plea entered by Tolentino himself. "Don't put words into your client's mouth," she told Real. Delayed arraignment Andal Sr.'s arraignment has been deferred for more than a year after asking the Court of Appeals (CA) to strike him off the charge sheet. The CA in February junked Andal Sr.'s petition. In his motion for arraignment before Solis-Reyes, Andal Sr. requested that he be arraigned on May 25 but the judge did not heed the request and instead set the date for June 1. The arraignment of 21 others, including suspended ARMM Governor Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan, has been "held in abeyance" pending the resolution of their respective motions before the court. Andal Sr.'s arraignment brought to two the number of prominent clan members who have entered their pleas. The first one was Andal Sr.'s son — prime suspect Andal Jr., the former mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao. Plea expected In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the hearing, Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said he expected the not guilty plea entered by Andal Sr. "Ganun talaga ang mga 'yan. Iyong bata nga na nang-agaw ng candy, hindi agad aamin eh," he said. Mangudadatu noted that not all the relatives of the victims joined the outcry after Andal Sr. entered his not guilty plea. However, Mangudadatu said the relatives cannot be blamed for their reaction. "Hindi natin masisisi na ganyan ang reaksyon nila. Tao lang naman din sila," Mangudadatu stressed. Mangudadatu said he was looking intently at Andal Sr. before he entered his plea, but that their eyes did not meet. "He was looking only at one direction," he said. Nevertheless, Mangudadatu said he was happy to have seen Andal Sr. more than a year after the gruesome massacre in November 2009. "Masaya ako na nakita ko syang naka-handcuff," he said. "Ngayon mararamdaman na niya ang kapalit ng mga masasamang nagawa niya." He said Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo assured him of spot visits from time to time, following allegations that the Ampatuans are receiving VIP treatment inside their jail quarters. He said he is now confident that Andal Sr. is indeed incarcerated in the Quezon City Jail Annex compound, but could not say the same for the others. "Hangga't hindi natin nakikita mismo, hindi tayo kumpyansa," he added. Juliet Evardo, mother of Julie Co, an editor of broadcast network UNTV who was also killed in the massacre, said she could not contain her emotions when she heard Andal Sr. plead not guilty to the crime. "Eh kung sa kanya kaya nangyari 'yun? Paano pa syang not guilty eh 'yung backhoe nakapangalan sa kanya," she said. Evardo said they did not plan to make a ruckus inside the courtroom, contrary to what was pointed out by the defense counsel. She said that despite the slow proceedings she was happy to have seen Andal Sr. inside the courtroom. "Masaya kami kasi humarap na sa wakas si Andal Sr. sa mga pamilya ng mga biktima," she said. "Matagal na namin minimithi ang arraignment, at saludo kami sa katapangan ni Judge Solis-Reyes. Sana ay ituloy-tuloy na niya." Maguindanao massacre The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre, occurred on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province in Mindanao. At the time, the massacre victims were on their way to file Esmael Mangudadatu's certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor. Mangudadatu, then Buluan vice mayor, eventually won the gubernatorial post during the May 10 polls. The 57 people who were brutally killed and buried in a mass grave in Ampatuan town included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. The victims also included 32 journalists who were with the convoy. A 58th victim is still missing. Over dinner In the petition that was junked by the CA in February, Andal Sr. accused the DOJ of committing "grave abuse of discretion" in giving weight to the testimony of Kenny Dalandag, who alleged that the clan patriarch was present when the plan to stage the massacre was being hatched in 2009. Andal Sr. said there was "clear and convincing evidence on record" that Dalandag's testimony was "fabricated." However, the CA said these allegations "have no basis in fact and law." In September last year, prosecution witness Lakmodion Saliao, a long-time Ampatuan house help, testified in court that he was present during two meetings at one of the mansions of the Ampatuans where the attack was supposedly hatched over dinner. The witness said Andal Sr. presided over the meeting that was attended by his sons - prime suspect former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and suspended ARMM Governor Rizaldy Ampatuan - and his supporters. Other cases Apart from the multiple murder case, Andal Sr. and several other members of his clan are facing a money laundering complaint before the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The victims' families have likewise asked the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas to freeze the powerful clan's assets. In January 2009, the victims' relatives then filed a plunder case against Andal Sr. and 25 other Ampatuan clan members, alleging that they possess ill-gotten wealth amounting to more than P200 million. A rebellion case was also filed against the Ampatuans in 2009 after the military discovered huge caches of heavy firearms locked away or hidden beneath several of the clan's properties in Maguindanao. The discovery came after the government on December 4, 2009 placed Maguindanao under martial rule to contain a supposed armed uprising allegedly being plotted by the Ampatuans to prevent authorities from arresting them. The Quezon City court that handled the rebellion case, however, junked the case for lack of probable cause. It was the late President Corazon Aquino who installed Andal Sr, as office-in-charge mayor of Maganoy (now Shariff Aguak) after the EDSA People Power Revolution. In 1998, Andal Sr. won as governor and was only replaced in 2009 by his son Sajid, acting as an officer-in-charge. Sajid is also a co-accused in the multiple murder case. - VVP, GMA News