Maguindanao massacre widow remains unavailable to testify

A widow of one of the 32 journalists killed in the infamous Maguindanao massacre will not be available to testify before the Quezon City court hearing the case for the meantime. Lawyer Harry Roque, legal counsel for Myrna Reblando and families of 13 others victims in the killings, told Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 that the widow is out of the country seeking medical treatment. Reblando is the widow of Manila Bulletin correspondent Alejandro "Bong" Relando, who along with 56 other people, mostly fellow journalists, were killed in the massacre in Ampatuan town on Nov. 23, 2009. Roque said Reblando's absence from the court proceedings will remain "indefinite." "The testimony of Myrna Reblando who continues to be indisposed due to her medical condition is hereby suspended," Judge Solis-Reyes said in response before wrapping up Wednesday's pre-trial conference in Quezon City. Testifying last April, Reblando tearfully recounted her last moments with her husband. She refused to give an estimate on the financial damages that the massacre had brought to her family, saying no amount could replace her husband's life. Because of her emotional condition at that time, the prosecution requested that she be excused from that day's proceedings. That was the last time the court heard from Reblando. Her lawyers would later tell Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that Reblando could not show up to resume her testimony because she was out of the country. Rebrando, along with other relatives of the slain victims, is testifying in court for the civil aspect of the case. Families of the other victims have earlier asked the court millions worth in moral, exemplary, and actual damages. Catherine Nuñez, Noemi Parcon, and Ramonita Salaysay, and Ma. Cirpriana Gatchalian — relatives of slain journalists — have asked the court that the suspects, which included members of the powerful Ampatuan clan in Central Mindanao, pay them a total of P66 million in damages. - Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMA News