Zaldy cites Enrile ruling to appeal bail plea

MANILA, Philippines - The camp of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan has cited the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the bail petition of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to appeal his own plea for temporary freedom.

In his six-page motion for reconsideration, Ampatuan cited the recent SC ruling, which reiterated that no right to bail shall be recognized when it has been established that the evidence of guilt is strong.

The former regional governor, through his lawyers, used this as a take-off point to argue that the evidence presented against him in connection with the Maguindanao massacre is not strong enough to warrant his continued detention.

The Heffron, Esguerra, Dy, De Jesus & Chico law office, representing Ampatuan, is appealing the Sept. 15 joint order of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, who denied the bail petition of the suspect.

In her ruling, Solis-Reyes said the prosecution panel was able to establish strong evidence of guilt against the suspect, whom witnesses pointed at as among those who attended the meetings where the massacre was allegedly planned.

“No guilt – much more any indicia of the same – attaches to an individual for his mere attendance in a meeting where a crime was hatched when no law makes said specific act punishable,” Ampatuan’s lawyers said.

Ampatuan was in Manila when the actual massacre happened on Nov. 23, 2009.

In his defense, his lawyers presented witnesses who claimed that Ampatuan never attended the meetings.

Solis-Reyes stressed that the defense of alibi was weak compared to the eyewitness testimonies presented by the prosecutors.