ANDAL Ampatuan Jr., the alleged brains in the grisly Maguindanao massacre in 2009, lost his bid to turn a prosecution witness into an accused.
In an 11-page decision, the Court of Appeals First Division found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court branch 221 when it upheld the Department of Justice's rejection of Ampatuan's request for the inclusion of Abdul Talusan as one of the accused.
The DOJ said it has yet to receive a complaint implicating Talusan as of the 194 perpetrators of the massacre of 58 people on November 23, 2009.
"Clearly, the respondents-appellees (Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano and the panel of prosecutors of the Maguindanao massacre) merely exercised a discretionary prerogative absent any showing of arbitrariness in not including Talusan as one of the accused in the criminal case," the decision stated.
Talusan corroborated the testimony of another witness, Kenny Dalandag, that they were present when members of the Ampatuan family including the petitioner's father, Andal Sr., planned the carnage.
Majority of the victims were journalists, who were supposed to cover the filing of candidacy for governor of Ampatuan's political opponent, then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu. He was represented by his wife, who was also killed.
Last week, families of victims asked the United Nation to compel the government to give compensation and ensure the delivery of justice. (Sunnex)