Zaldy Ampatuan asks court to let him post bail

Zaldy Ampatuan AFP FILE PHOTO

A day after he pleaded not guilty to the murder of 57 people in Maguindanao in 2009, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan formally asked the court to allow him to post bail.

Through his counsel Philip Sigfrid Fortun, Ampatuan on Thursday urged Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 to set bail hearings so that he could “present controverting evidence to that submitted by the prosecution.”

Ampatuan, one of the 195 accused in the Maguindanao massacre, also waived his right to be present during the court proceedings.

The former ARMM governor is the 82nd of 100 suspects to be  arrested and arraigned in connection with the massacre which left 57 dead, including 32 media workers.

“Case law teaches that before conviction, every person can post bail except if charged with capital offenses when the evidence of guilt is strong,” Ampatuan said in his motion.

He added: “Such right flows from the presumption of innocence in favor of every accused who should not be subjected to the loss of freedom as therefore he would be entitled to acquittal, unless his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt.”