Sison, Ocampo case raffled off to Manila RTC Branch 32

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 32 has been chosen to hear the multiple murder case against Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma" Sison and several others for the alleged summary execution of some of their comrades in the 1980s. The case was raffled off to the court assigned to Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina late on Thursday, court officials said. On July 1, Manila RTC Executive Judge Reynaldo G. Ros received the records of the case from Leyte RTC Branch 18 in Hilongos, Leyte following a Supreme Court (SC) order. Sison's co-accused in the case include Party-list Rep. Saturnino “Satur" Ocampo (Bayan), and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) negotiating panel chairman Luis Jalondoni. State prosecutors filed the case in early 2007 after the military claimed to have found a mass grave of former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Inopacan, Southern Leyte. Sison and his colleagues were accused of ordering the killings in 1985 as part of a “purge" within the ranks of the NPA. Ocampo was arrested last year on orders of the Hilongos court, but he was allowed temporary liberty after posting a P100,000 bail bond. He has denied the charges. Sison and Jalandoni, who are both exiled in the Netherlands, have also denied involvement in the killings and accused the government of fabricating the charges. Last April 23, the Supreme Court ordered the case transferred to Manila upon the request of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who cited danger and threat to the lives and safety of the witnesses, the prosecutor and the judge. - GMANews.TV