Ampatuan nixes jail inspection

MANILA, Philippines—Andal Ampatuan Sr., who is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, has invoked his constitutional rights in seeking to stop the relatives of the Maguindanao massacre victims from inspecting his jail cell at Camp Bagong Diwa amid allegations of special treatment.
In a motion before presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, Ampatuan’s lawyer Sigfrid Fortun said Ampatuan Sr. enjoyed the basic individual rights of any Filipino under the constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence while his case is being heard.

The private complainants, led by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, are demanding to inspect Ampatuan Sr.’s cell amid allegations that he and other jailed members of his family were enjoying special treatment while in detention.

Fortun, who represents several of the accused Ampatuan family members, said the suggestion by Chief Supt. Rosendo Dial, the head of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penalogy (BJMP), that the Ampatuans allow the complainants to inspect their detention cells was a violation of his clients’ privacy.

“My clients [are invoking] their right to privacy and security,” he said.

Fortun said his clients “preferred not to be ogled at and made a media spectacle.”

In his motion, Fortun asked the court to rule whether the detention cells of the accused Ampatuans should be subjected to public viewing.

Fortun also noted that the BJMP director himself had inspected the living quarters of the detainees and “found no special or extraordinary benefits given them.”