Judge in massacre case sets 105th arraignment

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – An accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre who claimed to be a victim of mistaken identity will be finally arraigned, more than four years after the killings.

This was after Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 ruled on Thursday that there were no more legal issues impeding the arraignment of Talembo Masukat, alias Talembo Kahar Abdulrahman.

Reyes set Masukat’s arraignment on April 10 in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, where he is detained together with the other accused led by members of the powerful Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao province.

The court granted the prosecution panel’s reiterative motion to arraign Masukat, which was filed after the Supreme Court denied his petition for review and a temporary restraining order on Jan. 13.

The accused earlier asked the high  tribunal to stop his arraignment as he wanted the QC-RTC to recognize the ruling of a Cotabato court which maintained that he was not the person who should be charged for the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre.

The worst single election-related violence in the country’s history left 57 people dead, including 32 media workers.

Of the 195 people tagged for the massacre, 107 have been arrested, of whom 104 have been arraigned on charges of multiple murder. Julie M. Aurelio