No automatic reinstatement for cops acquitted in Maguindanao massacre case —PNP

Police officers who were acquitted of multiple murder in connection with the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre will not be automatically reinstated in the police force, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday.

In a text message to GMA News Online, PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac said that "acquittal does not necessarily translate to reinstatement to the police service."

"Their dismissal from the PNP stemmed from preponderance of evidence which is entirely different from criminal case proceedings which require quantum of evidence," he added.

Banac said that the PNP is currently studying the status and individual case folders of the acquitted police officers to prepare recommendations, should anyone of them appeal for reinstatement.

On Thursday, over 30 police officers were absolved in the Maguindanao massacre case on ground of reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, some members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, along with several others, were declared guilty for the carnage that claimed 58 lives a decade ago. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua without parole.

Fourteen other police officers were also sentenced to six to 10 years in prison after they were found to have acted as accessories to the crime.

The Maguindanao massacre case drew international criticism of the nation's culture of impunity where powerful and wealthy political dynasties often operate above the law.

The Ampatuans ruled the impoverished southern province of Maguindanao and were allowed to build a heavily armed militia to serve as a buffer against a long-running Muslim insurgency in the region.

Prosecutors say family members and their associates carried out the attack in broad daylight on a convoy carrying an Ampatuan family rival's wife, relatives, lawyers and the journalists, who were killed in a hail of gunfire.

With scores of witnesses and mountains of legal paperwork, the case has creaked through a Philippine justice system notoriously overburdened, underfunded and vulnerable to pressure from the powerful.

During the case's years of delays patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and seven other defendants have died. —KBK, GMA News