MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH. JUSTICE. PROGRESS.
GUILTY! Volume IX, No. 177
www.mindanaodailynews.com
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - Finally justice is served. The Quezon City Regional Trial Court has sentenced the Ampatuan brothers guilty of the murder of 57 people, 32 of them members of the media, from all over Mindanao more than ten years ago. Brothers Andal Unsay and Zaldy Ampatuan were found gauilty in a verdict
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Friday, December 20, 2019
promulgated by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes. Judge Reyes also sentence several other influencial members of the Ampatuan clan, policemen and more than 50 fugitives. Datu Zaldy “Puti” U. Ampatuan was the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) while his brother See GUILTY, page 11
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No closure yet for 58th victim’s kin By BENJAMIN PULTA PNA
QUEZON City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes’ 761-page decision on the Maguindanao massacre on Thursday said there was not enough proof to convict the accused for the supposed 58th victim, Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay. “Mere allegation and speculation is not evidence, and is not equivalent to proof,” Reyes said in the case of Momay, who was confirmed to have boarded the news vans in the ill-fated convoy but whose body was
never recovered. “Regrettably, the court is not convinced. For a testimony to be credited, the testimony should not only come from the mouth of a credible witness, it should likewise be credible and reasonable in itself. It must be consistent with human experience, and occurring in the normal course of things,” Reyes said of the testimony offered by the prosecution in Momay’s case. A piece of denture, recovered more than a week after the incident on Dec. 1, 2009, by investigators See CLOSURE, page 11
JUSTICE SERVED. Maguindanao 2nd Dist. Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu (in white polo shirt) and relatives of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre raise their fists as some of the principal accused were found guilty of the crime, during the promulgation of the case at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Thursday (Dec. 19, 2019). Mangudadatu’s wife was among those killed in the massacre on Nov. 23, 2009. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon
Andanar hails court’s guilty verdict on Maguindanao massacre case By RUTH ABBEY GITA-CARLOS
MANILA -- Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Thursday welcomed the court’s landmark decision to convict several members of the Ampatuan clan and others for their involvement in the decade-old Maguindanao massacre. The PCOO chief ’s statement came shortly after Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes found Datu Andal Unsay Ampatuan Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan Sr., and several others guilty
of 57 counts of murder and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment without parole. Andanar said the court’s ruling merely proves that perpetrators of the crime will not go “unpunished.” “We predicted that this is the only way the judgment should go,” Andanar, who also serves as co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), said in a statement. “As I’ve said before, criminals who murder or in any way endanger journalists in this part of See HAILS, page 11
This 85-feet long torch, locally called “sulo,” has become a tourist attraction in the town of Villanueva in Misamis Oriental this Yuletide season. The multi-purpose tower, worth P6-million, built with a sirene will also be used during disasters, said Mayor Jenny T. Uy. photo by gerry lee gorit