Mangudadatu lawyer questions Zaldy's media interviews

One of the private prosecutors in the Maguindanao massacre case is planning to question whether the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 has authorized journalists to interview murder suspect Zaldy Ampatuan in his detention cell in Taguig City. Speaking to reporters at the Department of Justice on Wednesday, lawyer Nena Santos said she will file a motion to issue a show cause order against Ampatuan, the journalists who interviewed him, the suspect's lawyers, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel who allowed the interview. Santos, lawyer for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who lost his wife and two sisters in the November 2009 carnage, said their camp wants the court to order the parties to show cause why they should not be held in contempt. She added that the court and Ampatuan's lawyers should have informed the prosecution that the suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor was going to be interviewed by the media. "We will be filing a motion to show cause why there was an interview inside and then we were not informed of the order allowing journalists to interview in the jail facilities," Santos said. Three networks, including GMA, interviewed Ampatuan at the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City early this month. GMA News was able to secure a permit from QC-RTC Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes for its reporter, Joseph Morong, to interview Zaldy. In GMA News' interview, which was aired last week, Zaldy expressed his willingness to testify against those implicated in the massacre case even if these include his father, clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his brother, Andal Jr. Maintaining his innocence, a tearful Zaldy likewise lamented that should not have linked to the massacre on Nov. 23, 2009. Fifty-seven people, including 32 journalists, were killed in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province. A 58th victim is still missing. - Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMA News