After 10 years of trial, Thomasian judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes will release her verdict on the infamous Ampatuan massacre, dubbed by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the most brutal attack on journalists in history, tomorrow, Dec. 19.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge, a 1996 UST law graduate, will hand down the final judgment on the massacre that saw a violent and inhumane end to 58 lives on Nov. 23, 2009.
The promulgation will be held in Taguig City at 9 a.m. The Supreme Court had granted the petition filed by media organizations and news agencies across the country to allow live coverage and internet video streaming.
The 2009 attack on journalists was “the most violent in history,” as 32 media men covering the filing of candidacy for governor of then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu were among those brutally killed.
The attack was led by then Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. at Sitio Masalay in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The other victims were Toto’s own wife and two sisters, 12 other relatives and supporters, two lawyers and the father of one of the lawyers, two drivers, and six passersby.
Facing the verdict tomorrow are 101 of the 197 accused, 90 of which are detained, including the principal accused, brothers Datu Unsay Ampatuan and Zaldy Ampatuan. Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan, mayor of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, as well as 10 policemen, are out on bail.
Woman on charge
It was on Dec. 17, 2009 when the case fell in the sala of the Quezon City RTC Branch 221, under Judge Solis-Reyes.
In accepting the heavy task, she echoed the words of a former civil law professor who served as her inspiration, in an interview with the Varsitarian: “UST wants you to become a good Christian lawyer.”
The hearings began on Jan. 5, 2010, and a total of 253 witnesses were presented. By early 2013, only 81 of the 98 arrested suspects had been arraigned.
The trial of the case was further delayed due to the number of accused involved, which grew from 31 to 197.
Eight of the accused died during the period of trial, including assumed mastermind and patriarch of the Ampatuan clan, ex-Maguindanao governor Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Sr., who had a heart attack while in detention on July 17, 2015.
Charges against eight other accused were dismissed due to insufficient evidence or because they became state witnesses. These include Esmael Canapia, Rex Ariel T. Diongon and Sukarno Badal who testified on the Ampatuans’ plan to execute and cover up the massacre.
The initial release date of the Ampatuan massacre verdict was Nov. 20, but Solis-Reyes obtained a month-long extension from the Supreme Court, citing the voluminous records that needed to be reviewed.
The court granted her request, extending the deadline to Dec. 20.
On Dec. 17, 2019, two days before the trial, the Quezon City RTC ordered the return of Zaldy Ampatuan to his detention cell in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig after two months of confinement in a private hospital. Charm Ryanne C. Magpali and Nuel Sabate
