NBI: No evidence of bribery in Maguindanao massacre trial

Maguindanao massacre. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has found no direct evidence that state prosecutors assigned to the Maguindanao massacre case had accepted bribes from the accused, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday.

De Lima, who was at the NBI headquarters to attend the bureau’s 78th anniversary, confirmed that the team investigating the allegations that the prosecution panel took bribes from the principal suspects, who are members of the Ampatuan clan, had already submitted its report.

She declined to divulge any details from the report, however.

“No direct evidence found, but just that. I cannot talk about it further,” she said.

NBI Director Virgilio Mendez also refused to elaborate on the NBI team’s findings, but also confirmed that the investigation found no proof of bribe-taking.

“At this time there is no direct evidence of bribery against the state prosecutors,” Mendez said.

Among those accused of taking bribes were Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon, who formerly headed the prosecution panel, and Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, the supervisor of the prosecution team.

Fadullon has denied the allegations, saying that when the alleged bribery took place he was no longer in the prosecution team.

Baraan also denied that his team accepted money from the principal suspects to settle the case.

“The documents do not show any proof of bribery and another witness who was supposed to give details of the allegations did not materialize,” Mendez said.

According to an NBI agent who was part of the investigating team, the documents presented to them by a witness “were all photocopies and do not show proof of bribery.”

“They were numbers and names scribbled on notebooks, no solid story of what they really represented,” the NBI agent said.

The agent said the report on their investigation was submitted to the justice secretary last month.