DOJ junks petition; two Ampatuans stay accused

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has junked a petition filed by two prominent Maguindanao murder suspects challenging their inclusion as accused in the multiple-murder case that stemmed from the Ampatuan town massacre on November 23, 2009. In a 12-page resolution, Justice Undersecretary Leah Tandora-Armamento said Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan Jr's petition for review was denied because the two failed to show "clear and convincing proof" that the panel of investigators erred in including them in the charges. In their petition, Sajid and Saudi Jr accused the panel of investigating prosecutors of grave abuse of discretion when they said there was probable cause to include them [two Ampatuans] in the charge sheet. Apart from Sajid and Saudi Jr, 195 others are facing 57 counts of murder, including clan patriarch Andal Sr and his sons former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Jr and suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan. Sajid was former Maguindanao governor, while Saudi Sr was former mayor of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town. Sajid is also the son of Andal Sr and is the brother of Andal Jr and Zaldy. Prosecution witness Kenny Dalandag, in an earlier affidavit, claimed attending a meeting on Nov. 22, 2009 when the massacre plan was hatched over dinner. Dalandag claimed Sajid and Saudi Jr were among those present during the meeting along with Andal Sr, Andal Jr, Zaldy, and other Ampatuan clan members including Datu Anwar, Datu Ulo, Datu Bahnarin. Witness Lakmodin Saliao, a longtime Ampatuan house helper, last year testified being in the same meeting and said the same people were in that meeting. But in his defense, Sajid denied attending the meeting and claimed he was with his family at their house on the night of November 22, 2009. On the morning of Nov. 23, Sajid said he was accompanying his wife in filing her certificate of candidacy for mayor in Shariff Saydona Mustapha town. For his part, Saudi Jr said he did not attend the meeting in Shariff Aguak that allegedly happened around 7 p.m. of November 22. He said he only arrived in Shariff Aguak from Davao City around 11 p.m. of the same night. Saudi Jr also said that on the morning of Nov. 23, he was at the Maguindanao Provincial Capitol. Sajid and Saudi Jr filed the petition for review after their motion for reconsideration against the Justice department's ruling to have them charged was earlier denied. "[However] the petition [for review] is not impressed with merit... There is no cogent reason to deviate from, modify or reverse the assailed joint resolution, which is in accord with law and pertinent jurisprudence," Armamento said. She said the suspects' denial and alibi were "negative self-serving defenses... and hardly merits credence." The Justice official gave more weight to Dalandag's positive identification of the two Ampatuans and said the suspects' alibi "weakens" and "crumbles" in light of Dalandag's testimony. Armamento said the two suspects were preliminarily investigated just to see if there is probable cause, which could be readily established even with just one witness – in this case, Dalandag. She said Zaldy and Datu Saudi Jr's camps could just exhaust all witnesses who would prove their innocence during trial proper. The resolution was issued June 17 but was only received last Monday (July 25) by the panel of prosecutors in the massacre case. Asked to comment on the junking of the petition, Sajid's legal counsel, Paris Real, said they would still be "studying" whether to elevate the matter to the Court of Appeals. Andal Sr had earlier filed a similar petition for review before the Court of Appeals, but it was ultimately junked leading to the clan patriarch's arraignment in June. He pleaded not guilty. Even Zaldy has a petition for review before the CA, which has yet to be resolved. — LBG, GMA News