Maguindanao massacre trial could take ‘55,000 years’ By Philip C. Tubeza Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:45 am | Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
IN MEMORIAM Catholic priest Fr. Robert Reyes blesses the ground where some of the 57 massacre victims were found on Nov. 23, 2009, at Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province. JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO
The day-to-day legal clashes in court may have become more intense and personal but there’s still no end in sight in the trial of close to 200 defendants in connection with the Maguindanao massacre case.
To speed up hearings, private prosecutor Harry Roque has recommended trimming the number of defendants from 196 to just 35 to focus on those who were primarily responsible for the planning and killing two years ago of 57 people, mostly media workers.
He said the other defendants could be charged with lesser offenses. “At the rate we are going, it could take us at least 20 years to finish this,” Roque said.
At present, there are 196 defendants, each of whom are facing 57 cases. “That’s 11,172 cases. And international studies say that it takes five years to try a single case in the Philippines. So that’s 55,000 years,” Roque said.
He said that not everyone responsible was charged with war crimes after World War II. “Let’s just focus on the primary accused . . . the Ampatuan family and those who actually pulled the trigger,” he added.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the massacre, Amnesty International lamented the “very slow wheels of justice.” The London-based group pressed the government to ensure “effective remedy” for the victims and their families, and to “break the continuing impunity.”
A Catholic bishop dared the government to apply to the case the same speed it demonstrated in pursuing criminal charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“If they were able to have a speedy resolution on Arroyo’s case overnight, they can also do it with the case involving the Maguindanao massacre,” Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said over Church-run Radio Veritas.
Not forgotten
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte assured the public that the Aquino administration had not forgotten about the case and that it hoped that it would be resolved under its watch.
Valte said that when the President last spoke with the relatives of the massacre victims he told them that the government would extend them assistance and that “we will not forget what happened.”
The Maguindanao massacre on Nov. 23, 2009, left 57 people dead, including 32 media workers, in what is considered to be the worst election-related violence in the country’s history. The remains of the 58th victim, a media worker, have yet to be found.
It was also the single incident anywhere around the world with the biggest number of media practitioners being killed, international press organizations pointed out.
The media workers were part of a convoy traveling with the wife of Esmael Mangudadatu who was going to file her husband’s certificate of candidacy. Mangudadatu’s wife was accompanied by women relatives and friends. They were all killed. Six other civilians who happened to be passing by were also killed.
Many at large
Two years after the gruesome murders, not even half of the alleged perpetrators are in jail. Out of the 196 suspects, only 93 have so far been captured by the authorities.
Prosecutors have given to the police the names of around 20 prominent suspects out of the 103 people who are still at large but there is still “no word as to what happened to them.”
Of the 93 detained, 29 have yet to be arraigned, including Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Moreover, 50 of the 64 accused who have been arraigned such as primary suspect former Mayor Andal “Datu Unsay” Ampatuan Jr. have asked the court to allow them to post bail. Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes has yet to rule on their petitions as the court is still hearing arguments.
“Last year, we were delayed for seven or eight months until September because they asked the judge to inhibit herself. We could have presented at least 20 witnesses during that time,” said private prosecutor Nena Santos, a lawyer of the Mangudadatus.
The prosecution has so far presented 72 witnesses out of the “not less than 300 witnesses” it intends to present.
18 years
The defense team expects the trial to last 18 years before the judge could finally come out with a ruling, said a defense lawyer, who declined to be identified. He himself is planning to present at least 325 witnesses for his client.
“The Maguindanao massacre case is nothing to sneeze at,” the lawyer said, adding that the public should refrain from pre-judging the case since the defense has not presented its witnesses.
He also pointed out that the 72 witnesses the prosecution had presented were not all for the criminal cases because they included the private complainants testifying on the civil aspect of the case.
In recent weeks, defense lawyers have tried to push for the court to hold actual hearings on Mondays to expedite the cases even if only the private complainants are presented.
3 hearings a week
The court practically holds three hearings a week—motions are heard on Mondays in Quezon City while the actual trial is conducted at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Judge Reyes initially favored the proposal after private prosecutor Prima Quimsayas, who represents families of some of the slain media workers, said she could present her clients.
“Monday is open. The court can accommodate the parties should they decide to present private complainants or other incidents,” Reyes said.
However, state prosecutors balked at the defense motion, saying that they would be hard-pressed to hold three days of hearings every week.
“(Quimsayas’) proposal was made on the understanding that other private prosecutors would agree but they have not,” State Prosecutor Peter Medalle told the court.
Other prosecutors say they would be hard-pressed to present witnesses three times a week as they would have to be flown from Mindanao and briefed before they can be presented in court.
State prosecutors also pointed out that they were handling other criminal cases besides the Maguindanao massacre case.
Amend rules
Santos said prosecutors were hoping that witnesses, who had testified and were cross-examined by some of the defense lawyers, would no longer be recalled to be reexamined again by other defense lawyers. However, this would entail amending court rules.
“Our target is to finish presenting the prosecution’s evidence in three years but that depends on the cross examination. We don’t control cross and there are many defense lawyers repeating questions already asked during their own cross,” she said.
Roque went further and said the Supreme Court should look into amending the Rules of Court to allow the lawyers of prominent defendants to present their witnesses once the prosecution wraps up its presentation in a particular case.
“I think we can do this in Unsay’s case and have a ruling in two years. Otherwise, we are not getting anywhere… even if we hold daily hearings,” Roque said.
Bogged down
“We’re bogged down in cross-examination and the witnesses will be recalled all over again,” he added.
Santos said that at least, after the original panel of prosecutors in the case were replaced in April, the prosecution team has been faster in preparing its witnesses.
Judge Reyes has been freed from handling other cases after the Supreme Court this year appointed two pairing judges to assist her—one to handle more than 220 criminal cases and another to try around 200 civil cases.
However, while these cases have been assigned to other judges, their paperwork is still handled by Reyes’ court staff.
The case file of the Maguindanao massacre has reached 38 volumes of pleadings and orders, with documents filed almost everyday. With reports from TJ Burgonio, Jocelyn R. Uy, Christine O. Avendaño and Julie M. Aurelio
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which is two downstream from the one this is in reply to. The one between looks into private armies in the Philippines.
The snail-like pace of justice exemplified above sparked a recall along these lines .. excerpt among many ..
* Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself, but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked: "Am I my brother's keeper?" That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality, but by the higher duty I owe to myself. What would you think of me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death? ** Eugene V. Debs in The Issue, a speech delivered at Girard, Kansas (23 May 1908)
* Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. ** Frederick Douglass Speech on the twenty-fourth anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. (April 1886)
* Social equality and economic protection of the individual appeared to me always as the important communal aims of the state. Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated. ** Albert Einstein, in "My Credo", a speech to the German League of Human Rights, Berlin (Autumn 1932), as published in Einstein: A Life in Science (1994) by Michael White and John Gribbin, p. 262
* A just city should favour justice and the just, hate tyranny and injustice, and give them both their just desserts. ** al-Farabi, quoted and translated by Gibb, H. et al. (eds.) (1991) 'Mazalim' in The Dictionary of Islam vol. IV Leiden: Brill
* The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. ** Traditional proverb, appeared in various forms over the millenia. Traditionally refers to gods or (later) Christian God rather than justice. Early recorded form of sentiment by Euripides circa 405 BCE The Bacchae, line 882, translated as: *** Slow but sure moves the might of the gods ** Earliest printed version is Sextus Empiricus Against Professors (perhaps specifically Against the Grammarians) I.xiii.287,[1][3][4] who quotes it as an existing Greek adage and gives a Latin form: *** ??e ???? ?????s?µ????, ?????s? de ?????,
..... Est mola tarda dei, verum molit illa minutim ..... The mills of the gods are late to grind, but they grind small.
** Other versions given in Plutarch (Moralia)
** Earliest English version is recorded by George Herbert, (died 1633, published 1640):
*** Gods Mill grinds slow, but sure.
..... 1640 George Herbert Outlandish Proverbs no. 747[5]
** Most quoted English version is due to Longfellow, 1845, who wrote (first line is most quoted, and appears to be origin of “exceedingly”):[2]
** Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; / Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.
..... 1845, “Retribution,” in The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, collected in 1870 Longfellow Poems (1960 edition) 331
*** This is a literal translation of a German version by Friedrich von Logau in 1654 Deutscher Sinngedichte drei Tausend (klein is “small”) **** Gottes Mühlen mahlen langsam, mahlen aber trefflich klein / Ob aus Langmut er sich säumet, bringt mit Schärf' er alles ein many more .. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justice
Please excuse if i stuffed up the *s. It's early for many, yet dastardly late for me.
Oops, almost forgot there are many links in the wikiquotes. :) Enjoy.
Black smoke is seen from Homs refinery December 8, 2011. A Syrian pipeline carrying oil from the east of the country to a refinery in Homs was blown up on Thursday, an activist group said. "This is the main pipeline that feeds the Homs refinery," said Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group said flames could be seen at the site of the explosion. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Move aimed at ending crackdown on protests will not seek military action, says Qatar's prime minister.
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2011 23:56
Arab states may ask the UN Security Council to adopt an Arab peace plan aimed at ending a Syrian crackdown on protests but they will not seek military action, the Qatari prime minister has said.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told a news conference after a ministerial committee meeting in Doha on Saturday that Syria was delaying in its response to the peace plan presented by Arab states last month.
Arab foreign ministers will discuss the UN move at a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, he said.
The Qatar PM said "if we can’t solve the crisis in Syria in the next couple of weeks, the crisis will be out of Arab control".
Iraq team holds talks with Assad
Meanwhile, an Iraqi team held "positive" talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday, its leader told AFP.
"I am on my way to Cairo for a meeting with the Arab League after holding positive talks with President Assad," Falah al-Fayadh, Iraq's National Security Adviser said.
"We explained the Iraqi position," he said, which is designed to bring a peaceful end to the ongoing clashes in a way that respects "the will of the Syrian people, in the framework of democratic change."
Fayadh said his government's proposal was also designed to restrict "foreign interference" and prevent sectarian conflict.
Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, told AFP on Thursday that Baghdad wants to open a dialogue between the opposition and Damascus to reach a result that satisfies both sides.
"America and Europe are afraid of the phase after Bashar al-Assad. That is why they understand the initiative" from Iraq, Maliki said.
Arab governments on Friday called off a regular foreign ministers' meeting meant to weigh Syria's response to the initiative for ending violence, in which more than 5,000 people involved in Syria's unrest have been killed, according to a United Nations estimate.
Diplomats at Arab League headquarters in Cairo said the full ministerial meeting was canceled because some Arab governments had yet to give their reply to a conditional Syrian acceptance of the Arab League protocol presented last month.
Syria demanded the annulment of Arab League sanctions imposed on it and reinstatement in the regional bloc.
The Arab League had suspended Syria's membership over its refusal to comply with the peace plan calling for Assad to withdraw troops and tanks from restive cities, free prisoners and start a reform-minded dialogue with the opposition.
The Arab League also wants to send an observer mission to Syria to ensure compliance with the proposal.
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 41 years, says his government is fighting insurgents inspired by foreign powers.
Diplomats voiced new optimism that heightened pressure on Syria arising from Russia's introduction of a beefed up draft resolution against the violence at the UN Security Council on Thursday might prod Assad to accept the Arab League plan.
The move by Moscow, long a major arms supplier to Damascus, offered a chance for the 15-nation UN Security Council to make its first statement of purpose on the Syrian upheaval.
The council has been split, with Western countries harshly critical of Syria pitted against Russia, China and non-aligned countries that have avoided blaming Assad for the violence.
Russian resolution
Russia and China on Thursday submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Syria.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the council's presidency in December, did not disclose the exact content of the text, but said it would be discussed by the 15-member body.
Churkin told Al Jazeera that Russia believed there had been "considerable excesses" by some Syrian forces dealing with demonstrators.
He also said "extreme elements" had exploited protests and used demonstrators as "human shields" in order to attack police and security forces.
"We do believe that it's not only the authorities but also extremist opposition forces who are causing damage and killing people so that is reflected in our draft," he said.
"In the end, we want to have a strong statement in favour of stopping violence, upholding human rights, expediting reforms including constitutional reforms and encourage the Arab League to play a constructive, positive and peaceful role."
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