78 suspects in Maguindanao massacre plead not guilty

Pictures of the 58 victims appear on a tattered tarpaulin at the site of the Philippines’ worst political crime. Seventy-eight accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre pleaded “not guilty” on Monday, May 27, 2013, to a 58th murder charge in relation to the alleged death of missing photojournalist Reynaldo Momay. KARLOS MANLUPIG/INQUIRER MINDANAO

MANILA, Philippines—Seventy-eight accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, including members of the Ampatuan clan, pleaded “not guilty” on Monday to a 58th murder charge in relation to the alleged death of missing photojournalist Reynaldo Momay.

The clan patriarch and former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., his children Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Andal Ampatuan Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao, and 75 others were arraigned at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in Branch 221 inside the Quezon City Jail annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes proceeded with the arraignment despite pleadings from state prosecutors for more time to allow them to amend the charge sheet, which contained some errors.

The judge also denied Zaldy Ampatuans’s request for a separate trial. She said his rights to a speedy trial were not being violated by delays caused by various motions by his coaccused.