Category: Human Rights

Centerlaw’s Harry Roque said the death of Suwaib Uphamb, one of the gunmen in the November 23 carnage who wanted to be a key witness but was turned away by the government, should bear on the conscience of outgoing justice Secretary Alberto Agra.

Uphamb, whom media christened “Jessie,” was killed last June 14 in Parang, Maguindanao.

“I put the blame for his death to Acting Secretary Agra and his principal, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who refused to accord any protection to Jessie. There is blood in Agra and Mrs. Arroyo’s hands. May they forever by hunted by the souls of Jessie and the rest of the victims of the massacre,” the straight talking Roque said.

Roque has every right to be outraged. He was the one who sought protection for Jessie at the DOJ.

From abs-cbnNEWS.com

Department of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra on Wednesday reversed his April 16 resolution absolving two leaders of the Ampatuan clan from the November 23 Maguindanao massacre.

Statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines

The reversal of the resolution is, doubtless, a welcome development. No thanks, however, to Agra.

Indeed, if anything, all credit for the reversal should go to the families of the victims, their lawyers, the media community, and not least, the state prosecutors and the people in general who rightly railed against the obscenity of what could have been nothing but another ham-fisted attempt by this administration to let political expediency trump the rule of law, as it has done throughout its nine years of existence.

It was clear, as the prosecutors themselves pointed out, that there was no way Agra’s original resolution clearing the two Ampatuans could have been based on his supposed appreciation of the voluminous evidence a mere day after meeting with some of the victims’ relatives to assure them that he had yet to make up his mind.

The immediate and rousing anger that greeted his original decision were a clear enough signal that we would not be robbed of justice for this grievous crime, not just against the press, for whom the Ampatuan massacre was the single worst attack in history, but against the Filipino people and humanity.

If anything, he and his masters really had no choice. Anything short of reversal would have undoubtedly unleashed a firestorm that would sweep them away.

In a 30-page resolution, Agra said he changed his decision after assessing new evidence, including a new witness who testified that suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan and acting vice governor of Maguindanao, Datu Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, participated in a meeting the night before the massacre where the decision was taken to stop the Mangudadatus from filing a certificate of candidacy.

by Dona Pazzibugan and Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The government will drop murder charges against two prominent members of the powerful Ampatuan clan in connection with the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 media workers, in Maguindanao.

Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao, will be dropped from the list of those accused, Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said Saturday.

The two men were initially alleged to be among the key planners of the massacre that drew condemnation from all over the world.

Agra said he had ordered state prosecutors to exclude Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan from the information sheet filed before the court, and that the prosecutors would formally inform Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes that they were not charging the two with murder.

Asked if the two would now be released, Agra said: “It will depend on the judge.”

Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan were among the family members transferred from detention in General Santos City and Davao City to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, on Friday night.