Ampatuan grandsons’ bail plea denied

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City judge handling the Maguindanao massacre trial has denied the petition for bail filed by the two grandsons of deceased clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr.

In an eight-page order released yesterday, Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes denied the respective bail pleas of siblings Anwar “Datu Ipi” Ampatuan Jr. and Anwar Sajid Ampatuan.

The two are sons of suspect Anwar Ampatuan Sr., son of the deceased Andal Sr. and brother of primary suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr.

The court also denied earlier the bail plea of Anwar Sr.

In her ruling, the judge said the prosecution panel was able to present strong evidence that would warrant the continued detention of the two suspects while the trial is ongoing.

Various prosecution witnesses have testified on the supposed participation of the two during the alleged meetings wherein the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre was planned.

The incident took the lives of 58 people, including 32 media practitioners, who were part of the convoy led by the wife of then Buluan vice mayor and now Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu.

The victims were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Mangudadatu, who was set to challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan for the gubernatorial post.

Members of the then powerful Ampatuan family were tagged in the incident, an allegation they denied.

In her order, Solis-Reyes stressed that the ruling on the bail plea does not determine the guilt or innocence of the accused, which would be determined after a full-blown trial.