InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines -- Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila De Lima said on Wednesday that the cases involving the Maguindanao massacre incident which claimed the lives of more than 50 people may be segregated.
The DOJ chief made the statement during the second anniversary of the gruesome killings in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.
De Lima said they are considering such a move based on the suggestion of private prosecutors in the controversial case that can help in its early resolution.
The DOJ chief stressed that they only need to study first the “legal propriety, practicality and feasibility” of the proposal.
The massacre claimed the lives of 57 civilians, including 15 women and 30 media practitioners, on November 23, 2009.
De Lima also said that the slow phase of the prosecution of the case was due to the “dilatory tactics” from the camp of the Ampatuan clan and the other accused in the grisly crime.
Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes hears the multiple murder cases against former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, former acting Maguindanao Governor Sajid Ampatuan, former Datu Unsay, Maguindanao Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., Akmad Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, and 196 others.
