2 women to prosecute Ampatuans

MANILA, Philippines - “I’m not afraid. Do I have a reason to be afraid?” Senior State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag asked The STAR in an interview after the first hearing on the case yesterday against members of the Ampatuan clan and other respondents on multiple murder charges in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao.

Another female prosecutor, State Prosecutor Anjanette Ortile, was also assigned to the panel of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The trial at the Quezon City regional trial court will also be handled by a woman.

Balauag met Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in the carnage, for the first time yesterday.

Balauag, a prosecutor for 15 years, said she felt hunger – not fear – after the hearing.

“I treat it as just another case. I’m just complying with the order for me to be part of the panel to handle the preliminary investigation,” she said.

“I’d like to believe that we are not easily swayed. We are very independent,” she said of female fiscals.

Balauag, the last recipient of the most outstanding prosecutor of the DOJ award in 2005, became prosecutor in 1995. A law graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, she served as clerk of court in a Caloocan City regional trial court in 1989.

Among the controversial cases she handled were the Oakwood mutiny in 2003, the plunder case against deposed President Joseph Estrada and the recent case against celebrity surgeon Hayden Kho over sex videotapes with actress Katrina Halili.

Ortile, meantime, was a member of the all-women panel that won the conviction of the couple that operated the multi-million “shabu tiangge” in Pasig City (Amin Imam Boratong and second wife Sheryl Molera Boratong).

She said she also took the challenge of handling the massacre case “just like an ordinary case.”

“We are like doctors, you cannot reject patients. Just like in any kind of case, you have no recourse but to accept the job,” she told The STAR.

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera confessed that it was only when she witnessed the preliminary investigation of the DOJ on complaints involving the massacre that she realized that it’s “almost an all-women affair.” But she stressed that the assignment of two women in the panel was just coincidental.

Security a must

In a related development, the Quezon City Police District has provided security to Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes immediately after she accepted to hear the murder charges against Ampatuan Jr. for the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao, although she has refused to have police escorts.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego yesterday said policemen have been deployed to guard the woman judge even at her residence also in Quezon City.

This apparently is part of the “shadow security” that Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano mentioned when the case was raffled off to the sala of the presiding judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

The murder charges related to the Maguindanao massacre had to be re-raffled after QCRTC Branch 94 Judge Luisito Cortez declined to hear the case, purportedly for fear of his life.

“Although under the present setup, the (security detail) won’t be close-in,” San Diego said.

“We’ll provide security to her even at her residence,” the QCPD director stressed.

According to San Diego, they would suggest to Solis-Reyes to “limit her movement” and avoid “high-risk areas where she could easily be targeted.”

San Diego also said that whenever other cases being handled by the female judge have an ongoing hearing at the Quezon City Hall of Justice, located just beside the city hall, this will be secured by local policemen. 

Auspicious start

Malacañang said legal proceedings on the Maguindanao massacre case were off to “an auspicious start” with the selection of Solis-Reyes.

Presidential economic spokesman Gary Olivar urged Solis-Reyes to reconsider her decision to reject bodyguards despite the life-threatening risks associated with her accepting the case.

“Whatever her reasons may be for rejecting additional security, at least at this point, we have to respect that. I’m sure if the situation changes and if she wants to change her mind, we will, of course, stand ready to provide her additional security as she may see fit,” Olivar said.

He said the Palace was heartened by Solis-Reyes’ decision to accept the case and that she was “clearly more ready to face the risks that seem attendant upon the hearing of this compared to the judge earlier who had begged off.”

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano agreed that the “best man for the job was a woman.”

“She’s taken the first step to being a hero, I think you really need courage (in this life). You may have integrity, you may have competence but if you don’t have courage, those are nothing,” said Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Pimentel said he really appreciated the judge’s courage and would like to give her a tribute along with other senators.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan called on all concerned government agencies to consider with utmost importance and urgency the safety and security of Solis-Reyes.

“We ask the Philippine National Police, the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Justice to give the matter their full attention. They should not wait until Judge Reyes calls for security; provide her some protection immediately,” Pangilinan said.

Sen. Pia Cayetano also hailed Reyes for her courage and professionalism.

“She is an inspiration to all and a good example to our youth, especially young girls,” Cayetano said.

Faithful public servant

Women rights’ advocates also lauded Solis-Reyes for accepting the task to handle the Ampatuan multiple murder case.

Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral commended Solis-Reyes “for being true to her duty.”

“She’s an example of a faithful public servant,” Cabral said in a text message to The STAR.

For her part, EnGenderRights executive director Clara Rita Padilla said she admires Solis-Reyes for accepting the case.

“She is taking the case despite of the danger it poses to her life and family. The government should provide her with the necessary security to ensure her safety,” Padilla told The STAR.

“I am confident that she will be the key to bringing justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre,” she said.

The 49-year old judge finished law at the University of Santo Tomas.

She served as public attorney from 1992 to 1995 and prosecutor from 1995 to 2000.

Solis-Reyes, according to Supreme Court records, was a Metropolitan Trial Court judge from May 2001 until her assignment to the Quezon City RTC on Dec. 28, 2004.  

Maguindanao governor also a woman

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno urged new officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to help establish new and effective local government.

He formally installed Bai Nariman Ambolodto as officer-in-charge of Maguindanao province for the next 45 days.

DILG Assistant Secretary Brian Yamsuan said with Ambolodto and ARMM acting Gov. Ansaruddin Adiong, civilian authority has started functioning in Maguindanao.

The installation of new officials was held last Tuesday at the Maguindanao capitol in Shariff Aguak. Ambolodto replaced ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, who was arrested.

Puno said a selection board, to be organized locally, would choose a permanent appointee.

The operation of the ARMM government was virtually put to a halt after the nation was shocked with the murder of 57 persons, 30 of them were media men.

Ambolodto, a senior board member of Maguindanao, became the first woman to govern the province since its creation decades ago. She is a former vice mayor of Northern Kabuntalan.

Ambolodto said her new role as acting governor is a challenge to bring back order and normalcy in Maguindanao.

“If this is God's calling, humbly I accepted it as a challenge to prove that women can,” said Ambolodto, who reminded capitol personnel to wear their IDs as a requirement for entry to the capitol compound, still tightly guarded by soldiers. –With Reinir Padua, Helen Flores, Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe