Zaldy wants to attend son’s graduation

MANILA, Philippines - Detained former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan is asking the court handling the Maguindanao massacre trial to allow him to attend his eldest son’s graduation.

In a three-page motion, Ampatuan – through lawyer Ashlin Clint Co – asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to allow him to attend the high school graduation of his 19-year-old son Prince Sufri Norabbie at the Albert Einstein School in Cotabato City on March 24.

Ampatuan said his son is set to lead the invocation as he is the president of his school’s central student government. The younger Ampatuan will also receive the Diamond Award for Leadership during the commencement exercises.

Ampatuan said he is willing to post a travel bond and shoulder all expenses for travel and board and lodging of all members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology who will be assigned to accompany him to Cotabato City.

The former ARMM governor is one of the alleged masterminds of the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre which claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 journalists.