CA upholds multiple murder charges vs. Sajid Ampatuan with finality

The Court of Appeals has ruled with finality to uphold the multiple murder charges against Sajid Ampatuan, son of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., for the infamous November 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, the CA junked the motion for reconsideration filed by the younger Ampatuan that sought to reverse the dismissal of his main petition on September 10, 2013.

"A thorough evaluation of the petitioner's motion reveals no necessity for us to modify or reverse our decision," said the CA in its ruling.

"Petitioner's arguments in support of his motion are mere rehash of the allegations in his petition which have already been extensively deliberated and passed upon by this court," it added.

The latest decision was dated March 14, but was made available to the media only on Monday, a day after the 52nd month of the gruesome killings at Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

The September 2013 CA ruling upheld the Department of Justice Resolutions dated June 17, 2011 and January 25, 2013, affirming the finding of probable cause to charge Ampatuan with multiple murder.

Sajid, his two brothers Andal Jr. and Zaldy, and father Andal Sr. are accused of masterminding the killing of 58 people on November 23, 2009.

More than half of the victims were journalists, while the rest were relatives and supporters of incumbent Maguindanao governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, a member of a rival political clan who was then about to challenge an Ampatuan clan member in the gubernatorial race.

The CA, in its September 2013, ruling said Sajid failed to prove that the DOJ had "committed wanton, whimsical, unfettered and capricious exercise on judgment" when it filed the murder charges against him.

The appellate court added that it had found "no tinge of arbitrariness or capriciousness on the part of the Secretary of Justice" in recommending the filing of the case.

Sajid claimed he was in Shariff Saydona and not at the crime site in Barangay Salman on the time of the killings, but the court ruled that Sajid failed to prove this.

The CA, however, said Ampatuan's defense of alibi should be "best ventilated in a full-blown trial and not during preliminary investigation."

Sajid, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges last year, once served as Maguindanao OIC governor.  —KBK, GMA News