Prosecutor unsatisfied as more 'actual shooters' in Maguindanao massacre yet to be nabbed

After the guilty verdict was handed down on Thursday on most of the principal suspects in the Maguindanao massacre, the private prosecutor in the case on Sunday said she is not fully satisfied while 80 more suspects remain at large.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News TV, Atty. Nena Santos noted that the prosecution believes that many of the 80 suspects still at large were actual shooters in the killing of 58 people in 2009.

“May relief dahil doon sa nakapag-convict ng mga principal (suspects). Pero hindi pa 100% makampante dahil may 80 pa po ang dapat hulihin at litisin,” she said.

“Karamihan po sa kanila na-mention na sa testimony, 'yung naging participation nila sa krimen. Alam namin na marami sa kanila doon ang actual shooters,” she added.

In a separate interview on Dobol B sa News TV, Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Undersecretary Joel Egco said they will continue hunting down the remaining suspects.

Egco noted they started the manhunt against the suspects at large in February 2018, adding that they already obtained copies of arrest warrants against the suspects as well as their portraits.

However, he explained, the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police (PNP) had an agreement that halted their operation to avoid further delaying the case.

“Kasi kapag may nahuli ngayon maaaring makaapekto ‘yan doon sa unang batch, na na-promulgate nitong December 19. It might cause further delay,” he said.

Since the court already promulgated this first batch of suspects, Egco said they will continue hunting for the remaining suspects.

“Kung sa tingin ng mga akusado sila ay inosente ay makakabuti kung sumuko na sila,” he said.

“Hindi namin lulubayan ang 80 akusado sa Maguindanao Massacre na nagtatago sa batas,” he added.

On Thursday,  Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 under Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes declared several members of the influential Ampatuan clan guilty of multiple murder for the massacre.

The said massacre occurred on Nov. 23, 2009 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. 

The wife, sisters, relatives, and supporters of 2010 Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu —who was then challenging an Ampatuan — were on their way to file his candidacy when they were abducted by around a hundred armed men, forced up a remote hill, and shot using high-powered firearms. They were buried in a mass grave.

Thirty-two of the victims were members of the media who had accompanied the camp of Mangudadatu, to cover the filing. Mangudadatu is now a congressman.

Six of the victims were not part of the Mangudadatu and media convoy. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News