Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda PHOTO/INQUIRER
MANILA, Philkippines – A day after drawing flak for supposedly not doing enough to bring justice to Maguindanao massacre victims, Malacañang reiterated Saturday the need to allow live media coverage of the trial of nearly 200 accused in the killing of 58 people, including 32 journalists.
“Isn’t it that the reason the President wanted the trial to be broadcast live was in order for us, the Filipino public, to be made aware of what’s going on in the Maguindanao massacre trial?” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda asked in an interview on Radyo ng Bayan. “That is one good way for us to monitor the massacre trial.”
The Supreme Court has recently reversed itself and granted the petition of Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in the massacre, to disallow live media coverage. On June 14 last year, the high tribunal allowed live broadcast but on certain conditions.
Media and human rights organizations marked the third anniversary of the massacre on Friday, assailing the Aquino administration for the slow progress of the trial.
President Benigno Aquino III made no specific mention of the massacre in his speech to media executives in Tagaytay City Friday.
But he spoke in general about “media killings,” saying the government was “demanding the apprehension of suspects and the filing of charges that stick, resulting in justice for all involved.”
Lacierda was more categorical on Saturday, saying the administration remained “firm” in its resolve to bring justice to the massacre victims.
“We have made a promise that we will pursue the case with vigor,” he said. “We can assure the public that the Aquino administration has the same resolve as it promised during the presidential campaign. This Maguindanao trial case is a litmus test for the judicial system, and so, we are going to pursue this case with the same vigor, the same resolve as we promised the massacre victims.”
Lacierda said the impression that the government was “doing nothing” for the massacre victims was partly because live broadcasts of the ongoing trial was no longer allowed.
“The problem is it is not covered live, that’s why we have no way” of seeing what’s happening in the courtroom, he said. “It’s easy to say that the government is doing nothing.”
In the absence of live broadcasts of the trial, he said, the Palace would just ask for updates from the Department of Justice that could be made available to the public.
Lacierda spoke of the hours spent by prosecutors working on the Maguindanao case.
“If you only knew how many hours our DOJ prosecutors spend going through the evidence, on evidence-gathering, and talking to the witness,” he said, “one will not say that the Aquino administration has no interest in this case.”
Lacierda, a lawyer, acknowledged the problem with “technicalities” that Jocelyn Solis Reyes, the presiding judge, has to deal with in the course of the trial.
“The problem is of course, the defense files so many motions. In fact, more than 200 or 300 motions flood the court. And of course, Judge Solis resolves them one by one. So there is the difficulty,” he said. “We want the case to move faster, but there are technicalities involved which the judge has to resolve.”