Maguindanao massacre carnage site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Saturday assured families of the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre it would not be a cause of any delay in the trial of the trial of the accused, but would work to “push the case forward.”
Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Executive Department shared the families’ desire for a speedier trial and resolution of the case involving 58 victims, including 32 journalists and other media workers.
But Valte echoed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s statement that the case was complex since it involved 58 victims, 197 accused and 447 witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense.
“We’re one with your desire to speed up the pace of the case,’’ she said over government radio dzRB, addressing relatives of the victims who have been complaining of the slow process.
“You can hold on to the government’s commitment. We’re doing everything to prevent any delay in the case, and we will not be a source of delay,’’ she added.
Besides, President Benigno Aquino III, who met with them before and after he was elected President, was open to hearing their concerns, including security, Valte said.
“The President is open to granting any assistance, especially with regards to your security,’’ she said. She said they could relay their concerns to “point persons’’ assigned to deal with them.
The 58 people were waylaid on Nov. 23, 2009 allegedly by men of the then ruling Ampatuan clan in the town called Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. They were en route to file the certificate of candidacy of a municipal vice mayor who dared challenge the Ampatuans for the position of governor of Maguindanao, which the Ampatuans had ruled since the mid-1980s.
They 58 were herded to a hilltop where they were shot dead and buried, along with the vehicles, in a massgrave excavated by a backhoe.
International media groups have twitted the government over the slow progress of the trial. De Lima responded by explaining that the case was complex, given the huge number of players involved, but otherwise the trial was moving.
“If you regard the overview of the case and know how many witnesses were presented, you’d know why it is taking a long time,’’ said De Lima, who vowed to meet with the families this Sunday.
Valte agreed with De Lima’s statement.
“There are many complicated facets to the Maguindanao massacre case, as well as to the attendant attachments of witnesses that are under the witness protection program,’’ she said.
The surfacing of witnesses that have yet to be admitted into the government’s witness protection program was another matter, she added.
“But we assure you that the government is doing its best to push the interest of the state in this case,’’ she said.
Responding to criticisms of the slow pace of the trial, Valte explained that the government prosecutes the case, but defers to the judiciary to try the case.
“Again, the Executive Branch is not the only branch in play here, and we can assure you that our efforts have been concentrated on pushing the case forward,’’ she said.
Valte noted that the President has articulated his stand on proposals to compensate the families.
“The assumption there is that the government gave its blessing to the crime, and that’s a different matter altogether. And I think the President was specifically clear on his position on that,’’ she said.
Valte declined comment on a plan by the victims’ families’ lawyer, Harry Roque, to file a complaint against the President in the International Criminal Court over his alleged inaction on media killings, including the massacre.
“There are bigger things at stake here. It’s not about the President; it’s not about Attorney Roque. But it’s about getting justice for the victims,’’ she said.
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