Ludicrous grant of bail to suspect

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is appalled at the decision of a trial court to grant bail to Sajid Islam Ampatuan, one of those accused of the Nov. 23, 2009, Ampatuan massacre and son of clan patriarch Andal Sr.

We may understand last year’s grant of bail to 41 policemen accused of the slaughter that claimed the lives of 58 persons, including 32 of our colleagues, but we find it incredulous that a key member of the clan, whose presence at the meetings during which the massacre was planned has been established, could be accorded the same privilege.

These meetings were basically clan councils in which, as is common in Filipino culture, silence means consent. And it is stretching credulity to think that Sajid Islam, who was then acting Maguindanao governor, had absolutely no participation in the planning and execution of what was obviously a major operation in his domain, involving a veritable army of retainers and police personnel.

Given the vast resources, much of it ill-gotten, amassed by the Ampatuans during their decade of almost absolute rule over Maguindanao, the bail of P11.6 million, or P200,000 for each of the 58 counts of murder, required of Sajid Islam is peanuts to the family.

But what is utterly dismaying is Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes’ observation that the prosecution panel failed to establish strong enough evidence to ensure Sajid Islam’s continued detention over the course of the trial.

This can only mean that those tasked and, more important, pledged to ensure justice for the victims of the worst incident of electoral violence in the country’s recent history and the single deadliest attack on the press ever, have betrayed their mandate.

Is it any wonder why, more than five years after this most heinous of crimes, justice remains a distant hope for the families of those who died?

We demand that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who has staked the title she now holds on the successful prosecution of the killers, to make good on her word.

—ROWENA C. PARAAN, chair, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, [email protected]