Private prosecutor: Zaldy Ampatuan given too much rights

A private prosecutor in the Maguindanao massacre trial on Thursday criticized suspect Rizaldy "Zaldy" Ampatuan's attempt to get himself cleared from the high-profile case by seeking redress from the Supreme Court.

 

But despite Ampatuan's petition for review filed with the high court last week, lawyer Harry Roque remained confident that the suspect's arraignment would still push through soon.

 

"Too much rights are given to Zaldy kaya nga frustrated na ang mga victim," Roque told GMA News Online.

 

Roque, who teaches law at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, said that despite Ampatuan's fresh petition at the SC, "there is no legal basis to delay his arraignment."

 

Ampatuan, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor, was supposed to be arraigned for 57 counts of murder last April 26, some two and a half years after the grisly killing of 57 people, including 32 journalists in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.

 

Much to the dismay of the victims' relatives, the arraignment was reset while Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 reviewed the defense's appeal to defer the arraignment. 

 

The supposed arraignment last April was bourne out of the Court of Appeals' decision denying Ampatuan's request to reinvestigate the case. 

 

Ampatuan had insisted on his alibi that he was in Davao City a day before the killings (Nov. 22, 2009) and was in Manila on the day of the slays (Nov. 23, 2009). Reversal of ruling

 

Zaldy and former Mamasapano, Maguindanao Mayor Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan had already been cleared from the case by former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra in April 2010. 

 

The erstwhile Justice secretary, however, reversed his ruling a month later in May 2010 and reinstated the two as suspects after the prosecution submitted additional evidence against them.

 

Last week, Ampatuan elevated the matter to the Supreme Court, requesting that Agra's original resolution in April 2010 be reinstated. Ampatuan pointed out time inconsistencies in the statements of two witnesses that placed him at a meeting in Maguindanao where the attack was supposedly hatched.

 

Only two of the seven prominent Ampatuan clan members implicated in the massacre have so far been arraigned: clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Andal Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan's father and brother, respectively.

 

A total of 96 suspects have so far been arrested, while 100 others remain at large. Apart from Ampatuan clan members, the group of suspects also consists of local policemen in Maguindanao and alleged members of the Ampatuan private army. — RSJ, GMA News