Andal Sr. asks court to allow him to post bail

Principal accused and clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. has asked a Quezon City court hearing his multiple murder case to allow him to post bail. Andal Sr. made the request in a two-page petition for bail filed with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 on Wednesday. "Case law teaches that before conviction, every person can post bail except if charged with capital offense when the evidence of guilt is strong," said Andal Sr.'s camp in the petition. The clan patriarch and former Maguindanao governor, along with 197 others, is charged with 57 counts of murder in connection with the killing of 57 people, 32 of them journalists, in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. In his bail petition, Andal Sr. stressed that his right to post bail "flows through in the presumption of innocence." Three weeks ago, Andal Sr. pleaded not guilty to the charges, the same plea that his son and co-accused, former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. entered more than a year ago. Andal Jr. was the first one to request the court for him to be allowed to post bail, but Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes has yet to resolve the same. Last May, at least 15 other suspects, including Andal Sr.'s other son Datu Sajid Ampatuan, also filed similar petitions for bail. Solis-Reyes has already set the hearing for the bail petitions on Wednesday next week or June 29 inside the makeshift court room at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. — RSJ, GMA News