IBP seeks swift arrest, arraignment of those responsible for massacre

The national organization of Philippine lawyers recommended the swift arrest and arraignment of those responsible for a massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao. To restore Filipinos’ faith in the country’s judicial and electoral system, perpetrators of the crime – which killed 57 people, including women and journalists – should be apprehended and charged in court within 15 days, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said. It also sought the immediate dismantlement of private armies in Maguindanao province and other parts of the country, said the IBP whose two members – Attys. Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo, both human rights lawyers – were murdered in the killings. The group also put forth six other recommendations including putting the entire Maguindanao province under full control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and approval of new legislation providing stiffer penalties against establishing and maintaining private armies. Other recommendations include providing “full protection and assistance to witnesses to prevent miscarriage of justice; the strict implementation of the gun ban to prevent potential violent reprisals between the warring political clans; and the creation of a credible multi-agency investigation committee composed of independent groups and individuals to avoid whitewash and ensure impartial findings and swift prosecution." The government should also divest Maguindanao provincial officials involved in the incident of any supervisory authority over the local PNP, it said in its statement, which was signed by its seven officials including its officer-in-charge Justice Santiago Kapunan. In the meantime, it joined both local and international groups in condemning the killings, saying that it is “severely outraged" over what it considers as “the most gruesome mass murder in recent Philippine history." Bodies of both Brizuela and Oquendo were recovered, one of which "sustained several injuries and disfigured beyond recognition." Brizuela and Oquendo accompanied a group of local candidates to file certificates of candidacy at the Comelec office. The convoy was later waylaid and ended up being abducted, murdered, and buried in mass graves by armed men allegedly identified with a private army maintained by a local political clan, the IBP said. “The brutal massacre – unparalleled in its magnitude – is an indictment of our society that takes pride on adherence to democracy and the rule of law," the IBP said. “It is an indictment of our government’s inability to enforce the law and maintain order amid the mushrooming of guns and private armies in Maguindanao and other parts of the country." - GMANews.TV