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AMPATUAN JUNIOR REFUSES TO ANSWER MULTIPLE MURDER CHARGES;FORTUN SAYS DOJ CHIEF BIASED
A DEFIANT but apparently "bored" Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was brought before prosecutors yesterday.
The government's primary suspect in the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao which resulted in the death of 57 individuals including at least 27 jounalists was brought to the justice department (DoJ) yesterday.Clad in a white shirt and a camouflage flak jacket, operatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) flanked him as he sat through the hour-and-a half proceedings.
Most newsmen covering the event wore black shirts and some belonging to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) held a demonstration inside the DoJ compound. Ampatuan himself was nearly mauled as he walked inside the DoJ building which was secured by more than 300 heavily armed policemen .
Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun was heckled with shouts of "Mukhang Pera (Greedy for money)" by a group of demontrators led by former Pagsanjan mayor Abner Afuang.
During the proceedings itself, Ampatuan remained in handcuffs linked by a chain to another set of leg restraints and seemed bored by the hearing. At numerous times , he openly yawned while the prosecution panel led by State Prosecutor Roseanne Balauag discussed procedure with lawyers attending the case.
Fortun invoked the right to a speedy disposition of the case against his clients, the Ampatuans, and said the latter have decided to waive the filing of a counter-affidavit to answer the complaint filed by the NBI and the national police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
"On the basis of what the (prosecution) panel has said and what Sec. Devanadera has said we are submitting the matter for resolution by the (prosecution) panel." Fortun said referring to what he later claimed was "a bias" on the part of the DoJ secretary in making statements on the incident. He said they will be filing an appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop the proceedings before the DoJ.
Fortun was ordered by the prosecution panel to "make his manifestation (not to file a counteraffidavit) in writing and identify which Ampatuans he is representing."
Most of the lawyers of Ampatuan's co-respondents who were mostly policemen also claimed they have not received a copy of the formal complaint against in the client but nevertheless was ordered to file a counter affidavit within ten days, or on the next hearing of the case on December 28.
Later in the day, 26 policemen from the national police's 1507th Regional Mobile Group (RMG) based in Maguindanao arrived.
Nena Santos, a lawyer for Buluan vice mayor Ismael Mangandadatu who is the primary complainant in the case urged the panel to bring all the accused to Manila.
Mangandadatu , in a chance interview with newsmen later said he "hoped all the Ampatuans would be jailed".
The other day, the Supreme Court (SC) said a judge has been named to try the initial batch of murder cases against Datu Andal Ampatuan,Jr. and his men.
The said cases which arose from the inquest conducted four days after the November 23 incident were originally filed before the Cotabato City court but were subsequently moved to the Quezon City regional trial court due to security concerns.
In a statement the high court said the murder cases have been reraffled to Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes, of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Br. 221. Reyes is a five year verteran of the courts.
Two other judges, the SC announced that QC RTC Executive Judge Fernando T. Sagun ,Jr. 1st vice-executive judge Bernelito R. Fernandez and 2nd vice-executive judge Vivencio S. Baclig will go to Camp Crame to examine three possible sites for hearing the murder cases. The hearing before prosecutors in the DoJ number around 50 counts of murder.###