Ampatuans file new bail petition

MANILA—While the judge ponders their previous bail petitions, Andal Ampatuan Sr. and two of his sons are asking a Quezon City court to allow them to post bail with respect to the 58th murder charge lodged against them in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.

And they want Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to hold new hearings on the new petition, filed by lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun at Branch 221 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Thursday, so they can present evidence to disprove that of the prosecution.

“Case law teaches that before conviction, every person can post bail except in charges with capital offenses when evidence of guilt is strong. Such right flows from the presumption of innocence in favor of every accused who would not be subjected to the loss of freedom as thereafter, he would be entitled to acquittal, unless his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt,” the two-page petition said.

Reyes is trying multiple murder charges against the Ampatuans and more than 190 other persons accused of carrying out the Nov. 23, 2009 slaughter of 58 persons, including 32 journalists and media workers. Fifty-seven counts of murder were initially filed against the accused but the court eventually accepted the 58th count after the authorities proved Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Monay was among those slain although his body was never recovered.

The Department of Justice filed the charge in connection with the killing of Momay last year after a forensic team ascertained that dentures found in a mass grave where the massacre victims had been buried were his.

Court records showed that the prosecution has terminated the presentation of evidence in connection with the earlier bail petitions for the first 57 counts of murder.

The prosecution has also made a formal offer of evidence on the bail petitions but the court has yet to render a decision on the bail petitions.