'Humanitarian considerations' prompt court to allow Zaldy Ampatuan to attend daughter's wedding

"Humanitarian" reasons prompted a Quezon City court to allow former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan, an accused in the Maguindanao massacre case, to leave his jail cell for a few hours on Tuesday to attend his daughter's wedding.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court's Branch 221, "for humanitarian considerations," granted Ampatuan's motion for furlough in view of what it called a "momentous" event.

"The Court is of the view that despite being a detention prisoner having certain restrictions, [Ampatuan] may be allowed to attend his eldest daughter's wedding, which, in our culture, is a significant milestone to be cherished and remembered," Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes' order said.

"It is a momentous family occasion which must be witnessed and attended by the couple's loved-ones, especially [Ampatuan] who will personally bring his eldest daughter to the altar," it added.

The court also said it was not the first time a tribunal has granted a furlough to a prisoner for the same reason, and that the wedding celebration and Ampatuan's detention place are both in Metro Manila.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the government objected to the furlough.

"The prosecution vigorously opposed Zaldy Ampatuan's motion for furlough to attend his daughter's wedding, but the court granted the motion for humanitarian reasons," Guevarra told reporters Wednesday.

The court mentioned the prosecution's opposition, which argued that while they laud Ampatuan's "noble intention to perform his filial obligation and his desire to observe his religious customs and traditions," the accused cannot equate himself with those who have not violated the law.

They cited a 2013 court order that disallowed Ampatuan from attending his eldest son's graduation in Cotabato City, but the defense said the citation was "unfair and misleading," as the accused was granted a furlough to see his daughter graduate just last June.

Ampatuan faces murder charges in connection with the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 people, most of whom were journalists, who were on their way to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy of now-Maguindanao Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu.

But he was was temporarily released from detention on Tuesday afternoon to attend his daughter's wedding celebration in a hotel in Pasay City.

His daughter, Bai Nor Aila Kristina Ampatuan, married lawyer Mohammad Omar Somama, according to the court order. 

"The court allowed Mr. Zaldy Ampatuan to attend his daughter's wedding from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.  yesterday," said Xavier Solada, spokesperson of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Solada said the massacre suspect returned to his detention cell at the Quezon City Jail Annex inside the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City before 7 p.m.

Murder charges against the Ampatuan family, whose patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr., died in 2015, are still pending in court, close to nine years after the violence that has been dubbed the single deadliest attack on journalists in history. —RSJ/KBK, GMA News