MANILA, Philippines?President Benigno Aquino III wants the wheels of justice to move faster for the victims of the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, Malacañang said Thursday.

?We do not want to see any further delays,? Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office told reporters in reaction to the new postponement of the trial of Andal Ampatuan Jr. and 194 co-accused for the slaughter of 57 people, including at least 30 media workers.

Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes was to have opened the trial on Wednesday but decided in favor of the defense?s motion of postponement. She reset the trial on Sept. 8, angering the victims? kin who had traveled all the way from Mindanao.

At a press briefing, Coloma said the President remained keen on helping the victims? families attain justice. He reminded reporters that the strengthening of the justice system was among the programs Mr. Aquino was pursuing.

To further illustrate the President?s ?strong determination? to bring justice to the victims, Coloma said one of the speakers at the Feb. 25 rally marking the anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which Mr. Aquino attended, was Myrna Reblando, whose husband was one of the media workers killed in the massacre.

At a press conference, Supreme Court Administrator Midas Marquez defended Reyes from accusations that she herself had been causing the delay in the trial.

?We submit to the discretion and the wisdom of the judge on how that case will proceed,? Marquez said, adding that he wanted to clarify that the trial was not being delayed by ?the judge?s whim.?

Marquez said the Supreme Court was monitoring this ?celebrated case.?

?We don?t see any need to interfere with the decisions or discretions of the judge at this point ... She?s a very competent judge,? he said.

Slow pace of justice

Coloma said that even when he was still seeking the presidency, Mr. Aquino had ?always deplored the fact that the wheels of justice seem to be grinding very slowly.?

For example, Coloma said, it would take six years each for the courts?from the municipal court to the Supreme Court?to resolve a case. He also pointed out here that only about 20 percent of cases were brought to court.

Coloma said this was why the Aquino administration was working to improve the justice system under its watch, as shown by the allocations it had proposed for the judiciary in the 2011 national budget.

He added: ?We can only express a view that would probably persuade the rest of our countrymen to bring stronger public opinion to bear on the people who are [involved in] the trial [of the suspects in the Maguindanao massacre], so it would move quickly.?

Asked about the remark of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that state prosecutors should seek the possible intervention of the Supreme Court in view of the defense?s purported delaying tactics, Coloma said that De Lima knew what had to be done and that the Palace trusted her to do ?whatever is necessary to make this process move along more expeditiously.?

What happened

Marquez said he had phoned Judge Reyes to find out what actually happened on what could have been the first day of the trial of Ampatuan Jr., a scion of the clan that was closely allied with then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

?Remember that this is not a simple case. There are 200 accused and some 500 witnesses and, of course, you?ve seen how the lawyers are arguing the case,? said Marquez, who is also the Supreme Court spokesperson.

Marquez said he had called the press conference to allow him to explain Reyes? decision to adjourn Wednesday?s hearing:

?The court had conducted three days of preliminary conference, after which a pre-trial conference was held in accordance with the rules of court. After the pre-trial conference, the court should come up with a pre-trial order within 10 days, and the judge was able to do this.

?The pre-trial order will govern the proceedings of the hearing. In accordance with the rule, after the judge comes out with a pre-trial order, both parties?prosecution and defense?should comment. After the comments, they will all sign this pre-trial order. Both parties should agree to the pre-trial order.

?What happened was, neither party had submitted the comments on the pre-trial order released by the judge to [them]. Therefore, the court could not go into trial because there are no guidelines yet that would govern the trial.?

?Doing her best?

Marquez said Judge Reyes had given the contending camps five days?from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1?to comment on the pre-trial order. All parties, except one prosecution lawyer, received the notice to comment on the pre-trial order, he said.

By setting the first trial day on Sept. 1, the end of the five-day period to comment on the pre-trial order, the judge gave him ?reason to believe? that she was ?doing her best in trying to expedite the resolution of this case,? Marquez said.

?The judge was hoping that on that day, [the prosecution and defense] will all agree to the pre-trial order,? he said.

Reached for comment, Nena Santos, a private lawyer for some of the victims, said she agreed with Marquez?s explanation.

She said what the prosecution was contesting was the motion of Ampatuan lawyer Sigfrid Fortun to be granted another five days to comment on the pre-trial order.

?We are opposing that,? Santos told the Inquirer by phone, adding that Fortun had also wanted the trial delayed by arguing that Ampatuan Jr.?s father, who is among the accused, had yet to be arraigned and by dredging up motions that he had previously filed.

Santos said the prosecution already agreed to the pre-trial order after making some minor corrections, such as the spelling of the witnesses? names and the numbering of the exhibits.

She pointed out that the defense did not even have corrections in the exhibits.

One more suspect

Another suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, PO1 Arnulfo Soriano, has been arrested by police in Sarangani province.

According to Philippine National Police spokesperson Senior Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Soriano, who had a P250,000 price on his head, was arrested Thursday at Barangay Katubao in Kiamba, Sarangani, by a team led by Chief Insp. Henrieto Villamor.

Cruz said Soriano was being held at the Socsargen police headquarters and would be transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, where the other accused are detained.

He said that of the 195 accused in the Maguindanao massacre, 67 were under arrest and 128 were being hunted by authorities. With a report from Alcuin Papa