MAGUINDANAO massacre suspect and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan left detention Tuesday, August 21, to attend his daughter’s wedding.
He is one the principal accused in the gruesome killing of 58 individuals, including the 32 media workers, on November 23, 2009 in Maguindanao, the worst election-related violence in the recent Philippine history and the single worst attack on journalists in the world.
It was Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes who granted the furlough. Ampatuan was allowed to leave detention from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to attend the event at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said he returned to his cell before 7 p.m.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expressed its concern after Ampatuan, one of the principal accused in the multiple murder case, was allowed to leave detention.
“While we may understand a parent's desire to be present at such an important milestone in the life of a child, we stress that the crime of which Mr. Ampatuan is accused of is of such a heinous nature that the shock and outrage it stirred around the world forced then President Gloria Arroyo to move against the powerful clan that was among her staunchest allies,” the group said.
“Almost nine years after the rampage that claimed the lives of 58 persons, 32 of them media workers, no one has yet been convicted. Yet a principal accused, Sajid Ampatuan, was granted bail. That and now this, we feel, gives us and the victims' families more than enough cause to worry about whether we can truly expect justice for this most grievous of crimes,” the group added.
Prosecutors have identified 197 perpetrators, including the relatives of the alleged orchestrator of the Maguindanao massacre, Andal Ampatuan Jr., the former mayor of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao.
Four of the accused, including Andal Ampatuan Sr., died while in detention.
On November 23, 2009, the journalists who were supposed to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy of then gubernatorial candidate Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Ampatuan’s rival, were gunned down and buried in Sitio Masilay, Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province.