Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu. AP FILE PHOTO
COTABATO CITY – The court’s order to release Sajid Islam Ampatuan, one of those accused in the so-called Maguindanao massacre, was saddening for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu but he said it has not dampened the quest for justice for all 58 victims.
Sajid, a son of Andal Sr., was among 197 persons charged in connection with the massacre that claimed the lives of 32 journalists and Mangudadatu’s kin and supporters.
“We will run after him in court,” he told a local radio station here.
READ: Maguindanao Massacre – How it Happened
Mangudadatu admitted that the evidence against Sajid was still weak as witnesses, including Akmad Ampatuan, a close relative of Andal Sr., have yet to give their testimony.
“Our witnesses against him have yet to testify. They are claiming that he has a big role in the massacre,” Mangudadatu said.
He said Judge Jocelyn Reyes’ order for the temporary release of Sajid on Monday, after posting a surety bond of P11.6 million for all 58 cases against him, was “saddening but has not discouraged” him.
“We still believed that our justice system is fair. The hold departure order is a proof,” Mangudadatu said.
READ: Court issues HDO on Sajid Ampatuan after prosecutor’s request
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Monday said it was “terribly disappointed at the release on bail of Sajid Ampatuan.”
Rowena Paraan, NUJP national chair, said the media group has long predicted that “securing the amount, which most Filipinos can only dream about, was easy for a member of a clan that had built vast wealth, much of it ill-gotten, during a decade of misrule over Maguindanao province.”
Paraan said NUJP also fears for the future of the case even as she blamed prosecutors for their “faulty presentation” due to “incompetence, at worst as part of some nefarious deal.”
“We demand that the DOJ get to the bottom of this and move quickly to repair the damage lest a miscarriage of justice in this case be added to the long litany of sins against press freedom and justice this administration has committed,” Paraan said.
READ: NUJP: Ampatuan’s release due to incompetence of gov’t panel
Sajid’s petition for bail had been approved as early as January, making him the first accused in the Maguindanao massacre to be granted temporary release.
Other accused who had filed similar petitions were main suspects Andal Jr., Andal Sr. and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan and more than 50 other accused.
The NUJP had vigorously opposed these petitions for bail.
“While we may understand last year’s grant of bail to 41 policemen accused of the slaughter that claimed the lives of 58 persons, including 32 of our colleagues, we find it incredulous that a key member of the clan whose presence at the meetings during which the massacre was planned has been established could be accorded the same privilege,” a January statement issued by the NUJP said.
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