Timeline of Maguindanao massacre trial 

Suspects and relatives of the victims alike have complained about its slow pace, but the high-profile Maguindanao massacre case has actually gone quite a long way since Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes started the hearings almost two years ago.   Since January 2010, more than 60 of the 95 arrested suspects have been arraigned, including principal suspects Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son Andal Jr. All of them are locked up either at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City or Camp Crame in Quezon City.   So far, 70 of the prosecution's 200 witnesses have testified at the trial. A significant number of witnesses have attested that the killings in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town were not only planned but also carried out by the Ampatuans and their private army.   A separate rebellion trial against the Ampatuans was simultaneously conducted last year, but unlike the murder trial that has dragged on, the case was immediately dismissed.   Two years after the carnage, GMA News Online presents an exhaustive but easy-to-follow timeline of the significant developments in the trial of the massacre suspects. 2010   January 5 First day of trial, Andal Jr pleads not guilty to 41 counts of murder filed against him in the sala of Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes.   January 13 Ampatuan vice mayor Rasul Sangki takes the witness stand and says he heard Andal Jr (the son) talk to Andal Sr (the father) over a two-way radio to take orders on what to do with the massacre victims after being flagged down at a checkpoint at Sitio Masalay.   January 20 Prosecution presents videographer Jerry Atanoso who took graphic video footage of the crime scene while investigators were scouring the area.   February 9 Prosecution files amended information adding more suspects on the charge sheet. Meanwhile, Andal Jr's camp files a motion for recusation against Judge Solis-Reyes, asking her to inhibit from the case for perceived bias against the defense.   February 19 The prosecution asks Judge Vivencio Baclig, who is hearing a separate case of rebellion against the Ampatuans, to inhibit from the case for alleged partiality and bias.   February 24 Judge Solis-Reyes indefinitely suspends the hearings so she could first resolve a flurry of motions filed by both the prosecution and the defense camps.   March 18 For failing to substantiate the claim, Judge Solis-Reyes junks Andal Jr’s motion asking her to inhibit from the case for alleged bias.   March 25 Judge Solis-Reyes admits prosecution’s amended information and orders the arrest of 189 suspects in the massacre case.   March 29 Quezon City Judge Vivencio Baclig junks rebellion charges against the Ampatuans due to lack of evidence.   April 16 Justice Secretary Alberto Agra issues a resolution dropping the charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan, saying the two were not in Maguindanao at the time of the massacre.   April 16 Sixty-two police officers implicated in the massacre are put under preventive suspension while they are undergoing an administrative trial.   April 16 Andal Sr and four other clan members are flown from Mindanao to their new detention cells inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.   April 17 More than 40 cops implicated in the massacre are transferred from Camp Crame to Camp Bagong Diwa, joining the Ampatuans in jail.   April 22 Families of the massacre victims file a disbarment case against Justice Secretary Agra before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for dropping two witnesses from the charge sheet.   May 4 In response to a motion for reconsideration from the prosecution, Agra reverses his ruling and reinstates Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan on the charge sheet.   June 24 Private prosecutor Harry Roque says Suwaib Upham, alias “Jessie” and one of the panel’s “biggest witnesses,” was killed in Maguindanao.   July 6 Andal Sr is brought to the AFP medical center in Quezon City after getting afflicted with shingles.   July 14 Maguindanao provincial police chief Senior Supt. Alex Linesis resigns following the failure of local police to arrest more than 100 massacre suspects.   July 20 The court announces that PO1 Johann Draper would be dropped from the roster of the accused for lack of probable cause against him, bringing down the number of suspects to 196.   August 5 Defense reveals that it plans to present former President Gloria Arroyo as a witness in the massacre case. A week later, the defense decides to drop her from its list of witnesses.   August 31 Judge Solis-Reyes junks several motions for her to inhibit in the case due to a “lack of merit.”   September 7 Long-time Ampatuan househelp Lakmodin Saliao takes the witness stand and claims the massacre was plotted over dinner and that it was Andal Jr who suggested that everyone in the convoy should be killed.   September 14 Saliao claims that Andal Sr offered millions of pesos to bribe former Palace official Jesus Dureza and other police officials to ensure a separate rebellion case against clan members is dismissed.   September 29 Norodin Mauyag takes the witness stand and says he saw armed men set up a checkpoint near their house in Barangay Salman as early as three days before the massacre.   October 18 Zaldy asks the Court of Appeals to remove him from the list of accused in the massacre case.   October 19 Witness Akmad Abubakar Esmael says Andal Jr was the one who ordered his men to fire their guns at the victims.   October 20 Esmael says a backhoe operator helped in covering up the crime. The witness identifies sacked Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay as among those who were with Andal Jr at the crime site.   October 27 Inspector Rex Ariel Diongon, who is one of the suspects, takes the stand and admits his first affidavit was fabricated to make it appear the checkpoint was set up in response to a supposed bomb threat.   October 27 Diongon also says the police thought Mangudadatu himself would file his certificate of candidacy along with his own private army, Buwaya sa Lanao. Mangudadatu denies having such an army.   November 3 Diongon, who is applying to become a state witness, testifies that Andal Jr was “no ordinary man and can kill people.”   November 10 Twenty-eight suspects, mostly suspended policemen, plead not guilty to the murder charges   November 10 Suspect PO1 Rainer Ebus says he saw Andal Jr shoot around 40 of the 58 massacre victims. Ebus is also applying to become state witness.   November 16 Human Rights Watch releases a report claiming the Ampatuan clan was behind the killings of at least 56 other people in the last two decades.   November 22 Mangudadatu and other complainants filed a disbarment case against Andal Jr's lawyer Sigfrid Fortun for “impeding justice” by filing “imaginary causes of action.”   November 24 For the first time, DOJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III attends the hearing to supervise the prosecutors handling the case   December 1 Toto Mangudadatu's brother says the victims had been warned through a text message before they left General Santos City about the armed men blocking their path, but the convoy proceeded with the trip anyway.   December 1 Barangay Salman councilman Noh Akil says he was summoned to a meeting on Nov. 24, a day after the massacre, in which the suspects discussed plans on how to cover up the crime. He also admits failing to tell authorities about the armed men in their village out of fear of the Ampatuans.   December 1 Medico-legal expert Inspector Dean Cabrera shows photographs of the massacre victims.   December 4 Wives of the massacre suspects form a group called “11/23 advocates” to demand justice for their husbands. The wives say they are suffering from financial problems because the salaries of their husbands have been withheld from them since the massacre.   December 8 Mohamad Sangki returns to the witness stand and says he knew about the massacre plan but did not inform his “distant relative” Mangudadatu for fear of being reprimanded by the Ampatuans   December 8 and 9 A medico-legal expert claims several victims, including Rahima Palawan, could have been sexually abused before being killed based on the seminal fluid found in their underwear. Prosecution says it might file additional charges of rape against some suspects.   December 15 In a rare interview, Judge Solis-Reyes tells reporters that  hearings will continue to be held twice a week in 2011.   December 19 The judge agrees to a suggestion to hold the trial in Quezon City, as the prosecution will only be presenting medico-legal experts and no identification of the suspects is required 2011   January 13 A medico-legal expert says victim Cecille Lechonsito could have been sexually abused as well.   January 19 Defense grills an expert witness and asks him why he did not use the necessary tools in performing the autopsy of the victims, resorting instead to common items like a banana-cue stick.   January 20 A defense lawyer suggests that some of the victims could have died due to previous health problems and not from wound sustained during the massacre.   February 1 The Court of Appeals denies Andal Sr's request to be taken off the charge sheet.

Medico-legal expert Felino Brunia Jr takes the witness stand and tells the court he has performed 2,400 autopsies to establish his credibility as an expert witness.   February 10 Brunia says the skulls of the bodies he autopsied had been “reduced to small fragments.”   February 17 Brunia said the lungs of a victim he autopsied had been reduced to the appearance of “ground meat.”   February 23 A defense lawyer insinuates that the metal fragments found in the victims' remains could have come from surgical operations and not from firearms ammunition.   February 24 A medico-legal expert says the skull of one of the victims he autopsied had been blown off, leaving only the facial skin.   March 2 Relatives of the massacre victims stage a picket outside the Court of Appeals, where Monette Salaysay is quoted as claiming some CA justices might have been bribed to vote in favor of Zaldy.   March 9 Justice Secretary Leila de Lima replaces the members of the prosecution panel because they allegedly lacked “zeal, aggressiveness, and dynamism” in pursuing the case.   March 10 The prosecution informs the judge that a medico-legal expert, Tomas Dimaandal, whom it had been planning to present as expert witness, has gone missing. The prosecution also presents three complainants, all of them breaking down in tears as they testified in the civil aspect of the case.   March 16 Chief Inspector Raymond Cabling, Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) chief of the Region XII Police, shows photographs he took of the crime scene and of the victims’ remains.   April 6 Medico-legal expert Tomas Dimaandal shows up in court to testify, saying his earlier absence in the hearings was due to an inflamed colon.   April 8 The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) says it plans to file a P2.6 billion graft case against Zaldy Ampatuan.   April 13 The Court of Appeals asks NUJP director Rowena Paraan and complainant Monette Salaysay to explain why they should not be held in contempt for publicly criticizing the appellate court.   May 3 Andal Sr asks the Quezon City judge that he be allowed to undergo a check-up.   May 4 Andal Sr undergoes a checkup inside Camp Bagong Diwa for his swollen right leg and foot, which the defense says might be due to his prostate ailment. A jail physician says medication prescribed to Andal Sr was no longer working on him.   May 20 Andal Sr files a motion asking the Quezon City court to arraign him.   May 26 Mangudadatu shows photographs to prove his allegations that Andal Sr is receiving special treatment while in jail.   May 27 The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) relieves Quezon City Jail Annex warden Glennford Valdepenas while authorities investigated Mangudadatu's claims regarding preferential treatment for the Ampatuans.   June 1 A year and a half after the massacre, Andal Sr is arraigned and pleads not guilty.   June 4 A jail warden confirms Zaldy was isolated from other inmates because he reportedly did not have a “good rapport” with the others.   June 6 The Court of Appeals orders the freezing of about 700 bank accounts of the Ampatuan clan, including a number of their properties, as the government set out to determine if they were ill-gotten.   June 8 Once again, the defense tells the court it is planning to present Mrs. Arroyo as a witness, this time for Andal Sr.   June 14 The Supreme Court allows live coverage of the massacre trial.   June 23 Kenny Dalandag, the controversial witness who admitted to having participated in the crime, takes the witness stand but is prevented by the defense from uttering a word.   June 29 The Supreme Court carries out the first ever livestreaming online of the Maguindanao massacre trial, which was viewed by over 200 web users.   July 1 Judge Solis-Reyes junks Andal Jr request to prevent Kenny Dalandag from testifying in court.   July 6 Witness Esmael is recalled to the witness stand and positively identifies alleged Ampatuan henchman Moactar Daud as a suspect in the killings   July 6 Andal Jr's camp elevates to the Supreme Court its request to stop witness Kenny Dalandag from testifying in the murder trial.   July 11 Several broadcasting networks air an interview with Zaldy where he signified his interest to testify at the murder trial, as well as participate in government investigations into alleged poll fraud during the 2007 elections.   July 12 Justice Sec. Leila de Lima says she is not inclined to entertain any request from Zaldy to become a state witness.   July 18 Court allows Zaldy to get a medical check-up outside his detention cell, but he is refused treatment in one private hospital where he is brought.   July 20 Zaldy is admitted at the Philippine Heart Center, to the dismay of relatives of the massacre victims.   July 22 Zaldy is discharged and returns to his detention cell in Camp Bagong Diwa.   July 29 DOJ junks Sajid and Saudi Ampatuan’s request to be cleared of the charges, saying there was no “clear and convincing proof” that the panel of investigators erred in filing charges against the two.   August 31 Witness-farmer Amil Abdul Satar Maliwawaw takes the witness stand and claims that he saw Andal Jr and a group of armed men flag down the victims at Crossing Salman at about 7 a.m. on November 23, 2009.   September 1 Witness-farmer Haical Mangacop positively identifies inside the courtroom four suspects who he claimed were militiamen who had participated in the carnage.   September 28 Quezon City Jail Annex officials implement a biometrics system to further intensify security inside the detention facility.   September 29 Private complainants call for the relief of Quezon City Jail Annex warden Sr. Insp. Edgard Camus for alleged bias against the complainants and witnesses, a claim denied by the warden.   October 3 QC Jail Annex warden Edgar Camus is relieved and replaced by Superintendent Hilbert Flor.   October 5 Prosecution reveals it plans to present as additional witnesses former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, former Maguindanao election supervisor and whistleblower Lintang Bedol, former Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, and former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Gen. Victor Ibrado.   October 12 Witness-farmer Thonti Lawani takes the witness stand and claims having seen Andal Jr in a convoy of 20 heavily armed vehicles that drove up a hilly portion of the village.   October 26 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes suggests thrice a week hearings instead of the usual two. She also directs prosecutors to prepare five to six witness every trial day instead of just two.   October 27 Prosecutors frown at the suggestion for more frequent hearings citing logistics, security, financial, and work-load concerns.   November 3 Witness-farmer Alfonso Lagueden takes the witness stand and claims having seen Andal Jr talking to armed men at Crossing Masalay in Barangay Salman on the morning of the killings.   November 8 The Court of Appeals junks the request of Zaldy for a re-investigation of the case, retaining his status as one of the suspects in the massacre. — MRT/YA, GMA News