Appeals court denies Ampatuan Sr. appeal for exclusion from murder charge sheet

MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals denied with finality the petition of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. that seeks the dismissal of multiple murder case against him in connection with the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

In an eight-page resolution, the appeals court’s Special 11th Division, through Associate Justice Noel Tijam, stood by its Jan. 31, 2011, ruling that nixed the patriarch’s claim that he had no hand in the commission of the massacre.

The appeals court said Ampatuan Sr. failed to raise a new issue that would warrant a reversal of their January ruling.

“We found no grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when the DoJ [Department of Justice] found that there exist some facts and circumstances that engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed, and that petitioner is probably guilty of that crime and should be held for trial,” the appellate court said.

The appeals court in its January ruling said, “We find and so hold that there is no grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the DoJ insofar as its April 16 and May 5, 2010, resolutions upheld petitioner’s indictment for the charge of multiple murder. On this note, petitioner’s main petition as well as the supplemental petition must, therefore, necessarily fail for lack of merit.”

The appeals court added that they see no reason to disturb the findings of the DoJ.

It added that reviewing the findings of the DoJ in its preliminary investigation is an executive function that falls on the prosecutors and eventually the secretary of the DoJ.

“For this reason, the Court considers it a sound judicial policy to refrain from interfering in the conduct of preliminary investigations and to leave the DoJ ample latitude of discretion in the determination of what constitutes sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for the prosecution of supposed offenders,” the court said.

“Consistent with this policy, the courts do not reverse the Secretary of Justice’s findings and conclusions on the matter of probable cause except in clear cases of grave abuse of discretion,” the appeals court said.

Andal Sr. and his sons, former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and former ARMM governor ZaldyAmpatuan were tagged as among the principal accused in the massacre where at least 57 people were killed (one body is still missing).

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Antonio Villamor and Amy Lazaro-Javier.