De Lima eyed as prosecution witness in Maguindanao massacre case

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima

MANILA, Philippines—A private prosecutor in the Maguindanao massacre plans to have Justice Secretary Leila De Lima testify on an investigation into the 2009 carnage by the Commission on Human Rights which she headed at the time.

Private prosecutor Harry Roque said they want to call at least 20 more witnesses for the “evidence-in-chief” against the accused.

Roque’s Center for International Law represents the families of 17 journalists killed in the November 23, 2009 massacre.

The private prosecutor said they still have to get the consent of government prosecutors and De Lima on the matter of testifying.

The 20 additional witnesses, including the justice secretary, are mostly from the CHR.

They were not immediately included in the earlier pre-trial orders issued by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

Roque said he plans to have the additional names included on the list of prosecution witnesses once the pre-trial for the recently arrested suspects is set.

The testimonies of the additional witnesses, he added, would be “corroborative” of the findings of police investigators.

The CHR, then under De Lima, also conducted a parallel investigation into the slaughter of 58 people, including one whose body was never recovered. Only 57 counts of murder have been filed in court.

Roque’s law firm filed the 58th count, representing complainant Reynafe Momay-Castillo, in the Department of Justice, which has yet to rule on it, however.

Members of the influential Ampatuan clan are among the 195 people accused of plotting and carrying out the massacre.