Faltering judicial system threatens justice for massacre victims

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – As the first anniversary of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre draws near, a report has been released disclosing that families of the victims have been offered bribes and witnesses killed or intimidated to deny justice to the 57 murder victims, including 32 journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also reported that law enforcement officials mishandled evidence and that forensic investigation was deeply flawed.

The STAR was furnished a copy of the 13-page report, “Impunity on trial in the Philippines” penned by Shawn Crispin, CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative.

“The disturbing pattern of actions meant to undermine justice in the murder cases of Philippine journalists continues,” Crispin said.

“Survivors’ families and witnesses need protection from those who want impunity to prevail.”

However, Crispin said the fact that six members of the Ampatuan clan are in detention is an encouraging sign.

“Yet with more than 100 suspects at-large, including police officials and members of the Ampatuans’ militia, we are concerned that the government will not bring full justice in any of these murders.”

Quoting law enforcement sources, the report said the Ampatuans are also pursuing channels outside of court, including alleged attempts to pay victims’ relatives in exchange for withholding support for the prosecution, the report added. 

The report said state prosecutors would continue to pursue the case as a crime against the Filipino people.

“But they fear if enough families accepted bribes it would weaken the solidarity of the prosecution, as well as the resolve of witnesses to testify,” the report said.

Luisa Subang, wife of slain reporter Francisco Subang, told CPJ that she was approached by people claiming to represent the Ampatuans to offer a financial settlement. 

She rejected the P500,000 offer because she and her three children want to see the case fully prosecuted, Subang added.

Nancy de la Cruz, mother of reporter Gina de la Cruz, said she was approached in March by three men who claimed to represent the clan and offered P3 million in exchange for her signature on a blank piece of paper.

She refused the offer, De la Cruz added.

Quoting prosecutors, the report said a witness has also been offered a P5-million bribe to stop from testifying in court.

Other witnesses have been intimidated or threatened with harm, the report added. Ampatuan Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki’s house in Maguindanao was bombarded with mortar after he testified in bail proceedings last January that he saw Andal Ampatuan Jr. shoot a massacre victim with a high-powered rifle. 

On July 2, Sangki’s lawyer Richard Petisme was shot in the neck while leaving his office in Cotabato City.

The lawyer, who suffered minor injuries, identified one of the assailants as someone present in court during bail proceedings. 

However, defense lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun told CPJ Sangki might not be telling the entire truth. 

“No offer of settlement had been made to him,” he said.

Another potential witness, Suwaib Upham, known publicly as Jesse, was killed in June under unclear circumstances. He was a reputed member of the Ampatuan militia who turned prosecution witness.

Upham had given several press interviews detailing his role as one of the gunmen in the killings. 

Speaking to Human Rights Watch, Upham accused the Ampatuans of ordering the killing of three family drivers who were potential witnesses in the case. 

Upham was in the process of enrolling in the justice department’s witness protection program at the time of his murder, according to news reports.

Upham’s death has focused attention on the pressing need to provide better security for potential witnesses.

The report said witness protection is crucial because prosecutors will rely far more on testimony than forensic evidence to build their case. 

Quoting University of the Philippines pathology professor Raquel del Rosario-Fortun, the report said much of the physical evidence at the crime scene, including the bodies, were contaminated by military officials who were first at the scene.

Rosario-Fortun said investigators failed to wear gloves while inspecting the crime scene, and that evidence show some corpses were looted.

“They relied on unscientific techniques to identify the bodies,” she said. “It’s a weakness in the case the defense will likely pounce upon.” 

It’s still unclear if the forensic evidence was deliberately contaminated or merely mishandled, Rosario-Fortun told CPJ.

The CPJ recommended the following: President Aquino and his administration must follow through on commitments to ensure justice in the Maguindanao killings.

The administration should demand full coordination and cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the Maguindanao case.

It should order all evidence collected by police be turned over to prosecutors immediately.

It should further demand that police give full attention and sufficient resources to apprehending the 130 Maguindanao suspects still at large. 

National Police should thoroughly investigate all acts of violence against witnesses in the Maguindanao case.

Police should also take assertive and timely enforcement action in response to reports of intimidation and bribery of witnesses and victims’ families in the Maguindanao case.

Authorities should arrest and prosecute all those responsible for bribes, threats, and violence. 

These steps must be part of a broad, nationwide strategy to aggressively prosecute the killers of journalists. Police and justice officials should consider the creation of rapid response teams composed of forensic and legal experts to handle all major crimes, including the murders of journalists. 

The legislature and executive branch should ensure adequate funding for the Department of Justice witness protection program.

They should also devote sufficient funding for DNA forensic testing and other technology-driven investigation techniques. 

Judicial officials should review court rules that have been exploited by defense attorneys to delay journalist murder proceedings, often across many years.

Judicial officials should revise rules allowing attorneys to file duplicative, harassing, and irrelevant motions. These motions have been used as a stalling tactic to break the will of witnesses and victims’ families. 

The judicial system should continue to review and approve motions seeking changes of venue in journalist murder cases.

Public prosecutors and attorneys representing victims’ families have filed these motions in a number of cases to ensure neutral and secure venues. 

Beyond Maguindanao, the government must review and pursue policies to address impunity. Authorities should examine the experiences of other countries that have addressed the issue. They should consider a protection program for at-risk journalists modeled after a successful effort undertaken by Colombian press and government officials.   

Arraignment questioned

A police security aide of the wife of Andal Ampatuan Sr. has questioned his arraignment for multiple murder in the Maguindanao massacre.

Police Officer 1 Sandy Sabang has asked for judicial determination of probable cause before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

He told the court the 57 counts of murder filed against him should be dismissed. Sabang said the evidence is insufficient to charge him in court.

“There is no single witness who executed affidavit and which was attached in the DOJ Joint Resolution dated Feb. 5, 2010 that directly or even indirectly pointed to the culpability of the accused,” read his motion. 

Fernando Pea, Sabang’s lawyer, said at the time of the massacre, his client was on duty at the residence of Andal Sr.’s wife Leila Uy in Shariff Aguak, a town separate from the town where the massacre occurred. 

His client was detained because he was made to report to Camp Crame where he was placed under investigation, he added. Pea said Sabang was only included in the charge sheet because he was the security aide of Uy.

Sabang was being inadvertently listed as a member of the 1507th Provincial Mobile Group, he added.

Pea said Sabang was a member of the Maguindanao Provincial Police Office. No witness had identified Sabang either as one of the policemen who set up the checkpoint or was in the company of principal accused Andal Jr., he added.

Andal Jr. is on trial for the murders, while another 47 suspects in custody have yet to be arraigned.  

Bishop to gov’t: Speed up resolution of case

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Colin Bagaforo hopes the government would speed up the judicial process in the Maguindanao massacre case.

Speaking over Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas, Bagaforo said the government should give due attention and importance to the case and speed up its resolution. “We feel the pain (of relatives of victims) and we want to extend our solidarity with them, and to those who are responsible for this we appeal for their conscience and their heavy hearts that they receive justice from the Lord,” he said.

Bagaforo said while patronage politics remains, notable improvements have occurred in Maguindanao. 

“Compared to previous years, there has been a sense of maturity,” he said. 

“There was also an increase in the level of good governance in many of our local government units.” 

Fr. Eduardo Vasquez, Sta. Teresita Parish priest in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, said the situation in the province is still grave and that only last Nov. 7, he received an Obedience Letter from his provincial superior ordering him to “pull out” for security reasons. He is now in Davao City, he added.

Vasquez said he has been involved in many advocacies including support for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre. “There were still military personnel in the area, but it seemed that armed groups continue to exist in the province and this has resulted in clashes so it has been difficult to control the situation, especially on the matters of kidnapping, it is very complicated,” he said.

Vasquez said Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu has been trying to solve the problem, but that he does not have the full support of the people since there are still those who remain loyal to the Ampatuans. “They have their own loyalty and it is more disorderly because they are situated beside each other, they are neighbors yet they fight each other,” he said.  – Dino Balabo, Reinir Padua, Evelyn Macairan