KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 11 Sep) – The organization of families of the media victims of the Ampatuan massacre lauded the Supreme Court for affirming the decision of the Court of Appeals denying the bail petition of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan.
The Quezon City regional Trial Court Branch 221 denied Ampatuan’s petition in 2015 and was eventually concurred by the CA in 2018.
“We are glad that the Supreme Court stood on the side of justice by denying Ampatuan’s bail petition,” said Emily Lopez, president of Justice Now Movement.
The Quezon City regional Trial Court Branch 221 denied Ampatuan’s petition in 2015 and was eventually concurred by the CA in a decision on April 28, 2018.
Lopez expressed hopes that all the suspects, particularly the principal ones, will be convicted for the manslaughter of 58 people, including 32 media workers, brutally killed in the infamous Ampatuan massacre.
She said there are grave evidences pointing to the participation of Zaldy and other members of the Ampatuan clan, as well as the other suspects, in the November 23, 2009 massacre in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The Supreme Court, in its decision, cited Ampatuan’s “failure … to sufficiently show any reversible error in the assailed decision and resolution of the CA.” (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
