Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Trial Update: Court grants medical consultation for Andal Sr.

THE QUEZON CITY Regional Trial Court  (RTC) Branch 221 granted last 2 May 2011 the request of one of the principal accused in the 23 November 2009 Ampatuan Multiple Murder case for a medical check-up by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) physician.

Andal Ampatuan Sr. filed the motion because of alleged problems with his right leg and foot. The motion, as quoted by a GMANews Online report, said: “(Andal Sr.) respectfully moves for his immediate referral to and confinement in any government tertiary hospital as he has been suffering from sharp, continuous pain in his swollen right leg and foot that may be caused by his recurring prostate ailment.”

In a 2 May 2011 order, the court told the Quezon City Jail-Annex officer-in-charge “to immediately refer (Andal Sr.) for medical consultation with the BJMP physician.” It added that the BJMP physician should forward a report on the results of his examination within 24 hours.

The court held in abeyance Andal Sr.’s request to be brought to a tertiary hospital for a full examination pending medical results from the BJMP physician. As of this writing, BJMP physician Victoria Valeria M.D. had conducted  the medical consultation and had submitted her report to the court. (Update: Last 7 May 2011, a Pilipino Star Ngayon report said that Valencia and a Chief Inspector Lorna Terencio recommended that Andal Sr. be brought to Makati Medical Center. Pilipino Star Ngayon quoted a report by the Quezon City Jail-Annex warden saying the Ampatuan patriarch is suffering osteoarthritis.)

To avoid arraignment?

Relatives of the victims have expressed disbelief over Andal Sr.’s need to undergo any medical examination.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, widower of Genalin Mangudadatu,  who was among the 58 men and women including 32 journalists killed during the Massacre, told reporters during the 4 May 2011 hearing that Andal Sr.’s request for hospitalization was meant to prevent his arraignment .  “It’s all for show,” Mangudadatu told reporters in Filipino.

Prior to the resumption of the hearings this May, the prosecution had filed a motion asking the court to schedule Andal Sr.’s arraignment as his petition for certiorari had been junked by the Court of Appeals early this year.

Meanwhile, only Misuari Ampatuan out of the four accused scheduled was arraigned last 4 May 2011. The arraignment of the three others was deferred due to the absence of a court interpreter.

Misuari Ampatuan, a civilian volunteer organization member, refused to enter any plea  during his arraignment. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes  entered the plea of not guilty in behalf of Misuari Ampatuan in accordance with Rule 116 of the Rules of Court.

Presence in court

On 5 May 2011, almost 40 out of the 54 arraigned accused attended the hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City. Only the arraigned accused who had waived the right to personally appear in court, including Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in killing the 57 (58  including the missing Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay) persons, were allowed by the court to skip the hearings.

The prosecution, led by Zamboanga Asst. Regional Prosecutor Peter Medalle, requested on 4 May 2011  to require the accused persons in detention to attend the hearing, saying that there is no immediate security risk in their attendance since the makeshift courtroom is in the compound where they are being held. The prosecution earlier agreed to waive the appearance of the accused when the hearings were being held in Quezon City due to  security risks when transporting them from Bicutan, Taguig City to Quezon City.

“This is a public trial. They should be present in court,” Medalle said.

Lawyer Harry Roque added that the private complainants would like to see the accused in court.

However, some defense lawyers disagreed with the prosecution’s request, saying the court has already granted their clients’ waivers to appear. Unsay’s lead counsel Sergei Fortun  told the court that if the prosecution can present a case  or rule which states that “accused who have waived their rights (to appear in court) cannot be excused (from hearings) when…detained” then they will gladly show their clients in court.

SOCO photographer

The prosecution asked the court to subpoena two other members of the Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO)  team. PO2 Richard Santuele and PO1 Rodimer Daproza were part of the Region 12 PNP  team that secured and processed the site where the 57 victims were found on 23 November 2009.

The names of Santuele and Daproza came up during the cross-examination of Police Chief Inspector Raymond Cabling M.D. Cabling, then Regional 12 PNP SOCO chief, was also part of the SOCO team led by Chief Supt. Panfilo Regis and one of the medico-legal officers of PNP and NBI which examined the 57 victims whose bodies have been found.

Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr.’s lead counsel  went through Cabling’s 128 photographs and asked why the doctor’s photographs did not show all the 57 bodies as well as the excavation of the bodies from the pits.

Cabling told the court that he had to leave the crime scene 25 November 2009 as he had a DiCo meeting that day and on 26 November. He then proceeded to Tacurong City to start the autopsy on the eight bodies assigned to him. Cabling also explained that the 128 photos  he took  formed part of the SOCO report.

During his direct examination, Cabling presented photographs he took from 9 p.m. of 23 November 2009 until 6 p.m. of 24 November 2009 his autopsy reports which showed most of the victims

The cross-examination of Cabling will continue 11 May 2011.