‘Walk out’ mars Maguindanao massacre trial

Andal Ampatuan Sr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Lawyers of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre trial left the courtroom when the prosecution panel presented a witness Wednesday morning at a Quezon City regional trial court, a court staff said.

Out of respect for the court, defense lawyers led by Sigfreid Fortun manifested their desire to step out of the court room during the testimony of witness Eliseo Gollago and Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Branch 221 Jocelyn Reyes allowed them to leave.

Fortun told the court that Gollago’s testimony had nothing to do with their clients Andal Ampatuan Sr., and Zaldy Ampatuan, the primary accused in the massacre.

Reyes appointed Public Attorney Laquindab Marohombrosar as “counsel de officio’’ for one of the accused Omar Kayansang, who was represented by lawyer Paris Real, when Real decided to leave with Fortun and the other defense lawyers.

Kayansang was not present in Wednesday’s proceedings.

Real left the room, with Fortun and company to avoid listening to Gollago’s testimony, despite a reminder from the judge that Gollago’s testimony was relevant to the charges against his client, Kayansang, one of the accused.

Gollago was the owner of a funeral parlor where 13 cadavers were embalmed.

Gollago testified that he found the cellular phone hidden by one of the victims, lawyer Cynthia Oquendo-Ayon, in her underwear, which supposedly contained text messages she sent moments before she was killed.

Marohombsar later declined the court’s appointment.  “I have to recuse because his (Kayansang’s) counsel has manifested that he is waiving his appearance,” Marohombsar said.

Assistant State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas chided the move of Real to walk out, saying “the right to counsel is personal to the accused.”

“The accused (is the only one who) can waive this right, not the counsel. He cannot do that,” Torrevillas added.

Real replied,  “She  (referring to Torrevillas) is the lawyer of the government, not the lawyer of Kayansang.”

Torrevillas had argued that Gollago’s testimony would be important to prove a conspiracy among the Ampatuans and their henchmen to kill 57 people in a remote road in a Maguindanao town on Nov. 23, 2009.

Torrevillas explained Gollago was listed in the February 14 pre-trial order because his name was only brought up by another prosecution witness during a hearing back in January.

When the hearing resumed in the afternoon, Assistant Prosecutor Dana Gomez told the court that Philippine Army Colonel Randolph Cabangbang could not appear in court to testify on the 176 pages of report submitted on Dec. 12, 2009 to then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The documents were the confidential reports about the military’s investigation of the massacre.