MANILA, Philippines—A Quezon City court has junked the plea of a police officer linked to the Maguindanao massacre for the dropping of multiple murder charges against him, saying the pleading was “bereft of merit.”
Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court’s Branch 221 dismissed the pleading of Chief Inspector Abdul Gapor Abad, one of the 196 people charged in the case.
The three-page order issued on December 29 denied Abad’s motion to quash the indictment on grounds that the prosecution’s criminal information did not follow the prescribed form.
The court said the pleading was “bereft of merit” in maintaining that the criminal information should have charged the accused for a complex crime and not separate cases.
Reyes added: “Deeply rooted is the doctrine that when various victims expire from separate shots, such acts constitute separate distinct cases.
The court agreed with the prosecution’s opposition and earlier finding that the accused acted in unison and driven by the same purpose, which indicates conspiracy.
Abad, along with the other accused, have been charged with 57 counts of murder for the killing of 57 people on November 23, 2009 in Maguindanao.
Members of the Ampatuan clan are accused of masterminding the massacre.
Two years after the killings, less than 100 have been arrested and the court is still hearing several bail petitions of the accused, including that of Andal Ampatuan Jr.
Abad lodged his pleading along with Police Officer 1 Michael Macarongon but Macarongon later withdrew his pleading and asked to be arraigned.
Court staff said both accused policemen are detained at the Metro Manila District Jail’s Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
The court will resume its hearings on the multiple murder cases on Thursday, January 5 at Camp Bagong Diwa.