Ampatuans ask for more time to find new lawyers

CMFR/Philippines – The primary accused in the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre Trial asked the Court on 14 August 2014 to extend the seven days they have been given to find new lawyers, saying they also need time to raise money for new legal representation.

Speaking for his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and other accused who are also without lawyers, Andal “Datu Unsay” Ampatuan Jr., refused to have the Court appoint a lawyer for them even only for that day’s proceedings.

Lawyers Philip Sigfrid Fortun, Paris Real and Andres Manuel earlier resigned as defense counsel of more than 20 accused.  They did not explain why.

In the 13 August proceeding, only 13 of the accused allowed the Court to appoint a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) as their new counsel.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes told Unsay that if the accused do not allow the Court to appoint a lawyer for them for Thursday’s proceedings, the two private complainants (relatives of the massacre victims) who were to be presented that day would have to return to the Court, some 1,500 kilometers away from their home province.

Private complainants Bainot Mangacop and Takungan Balayman were to testify on the civil damages they incurred resulting from the deaths of their relatives.

But Unsay relented and then asked for more time to find new representation. The Judge denied this request but told Unsay to ask again when the seven days are over.

When asked by the Judge, the two private complainants said they were willing to return to the Court when the 13 accused have found new lawyers. They were then presented for the rest of the accused, who were represented by a PAO lawyer that day.

The Judge also ordered the presentation of the defense’s rebuttal evidence in the bail petition of Zaldy Ampatuan, Unsay’s brother, for 3 September 2014.

Fortun also represented Zaldy in the trial, but resigned on 29 May 2014. By 3 June 2014, a new law firm had appeared in Court as Zaldy’s new counsel.

On 14 August, Attorney Andre de Jesus, founding partner of the Heffron, Esguerra, Dy & de Jesus law firm, represented Zaldy in Court.

Zaldy was the governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) while Unsay was mayor of Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao province, at the time of the massacre.

Meanwhile, before leaving the 13 August proceeding, private prosecutor Harry Roque said they could not file a “Formal Offer of Evidence” resting in the presentation of “evidence-in-chief,” because Andal Sr. and other Ampatuans had no lawyer.

“We couldn’t file since the Ampatuans have no counsel,” a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Roque as saying.

The Ampatuan Massacre is considered the deadliest single attack on the press ever documented, according to the New York City-based organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

On 23 November 2009, 58 people, 32 of whom were journalists and media workers, were killed in an election-related incident in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province.