Panelo won’t comment on conviction of ex-client Andal Ampatuan Jr.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Thursday declined to give his personal take on the decision of the trial court that found several members of the influential Ampatuan clan guilty in the Maguindanao massacre case.

Panelo had served as defense counsel for now-convicted murderer and former Datu Unsay, Maguindanao mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. in the case, but withdrew in 2015 due to personal reasons.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 slapped brothers Andal Jr. and Zaldy with jail time of up to 40 years without parole and ordered them to pay damages to the victims’ kin.

“Whatever I say might be misinterpreted, so I’d rather not. As I said the court has decided, we have to respect,” Panelo told reporters.

A private practitioner before joining the Duterte administration in June 2016, Panelo had handled several high-profile cases, including that of convicted rapist and former Calauan, Laguna mayor Antonio Sanchez and Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who was acquitted last year of plunder charges in relation to the pork barrel scam. — BM, GMA News