v11n0203

Case analysis: (in)effective right to remedy?
The magnitude of the maguindanao massacre stands as
evidence of an enormous challenge to the country’s system of
justice in ensuring that the “right to speedy trial” and “speedy
disposition of cases” is protected.
In this case, there are 196 defendants, each of them charged
with 57 counts of murder for the death of 57 people, all charges
being heard at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in metro manila. The
body of one journalist, which is required in prosecuting a murder
case, could not be found. Over 500 others named only as “John
Does” in the criminal charges have not yet been identified. Of the
196 defendants, 93 have been arrested; however, three of them
have accused the police officers of arresting them in the place of
real accused. Of the 93 defendants in detention, 29 of them have
not been arraigned in open court yet.
Before the trial could begin, it took the national Prosecution
Service, the prosecution arm of the Department of Justice, over
two months to file the 57 counts of murder in court against the
defendants. here, although the prosecution body did comply with
its legal obligation to complete the preliminary investigations in at
least 40 days for ordinary cases and 90 days for cases involving
public officials as required by the Revised Rules of Criminal
Procedure, Rule 112 on Preliminary Investigation, to be able
to proceed with the trial to ensure that an “effective remedy” is
achieved has been problematic in reality.
The failure of the Philippine national Police to arrest the
other 103 defendants, who are still at large two years after the
massacre, has further delayed the trial of the case. Although all
of the accused are charged for murder in a single incident, in
determining criminal liability each must be arraigned, tried and
examined individually in court during the trial. The accused could
also question the merit of the case by submitting petitions and
motions in court either to have their names excluded from the
murder charges or having the entire case dismissed on question
of merit.
However, not all motions and petitions filed by defendants,
particularly those of powerful and influential political figures
are in good faith. In this case, some defendants who invoked a
remedial right filed their petitions to either exclude their names
from the murder charge or dismiss case allegedly to deliberately
delay the trial. To date, there are still 29 defendants, including
Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in
muslim mindanao, who have not been arraigned. Zaldy is the
son of Andal Sr.
under the Speedy Trial Act of 1998, section 6, in trial of
criminal cases “in no case shall the entire trial period exceed one
hundred eighty (180) days from the first day of trial”; however,
four of the seven “exclusions” applicable in this case, as stipulated
in section 10 of the same law, have rendered the law inoperative.
These exclusions are delays due to trials with respect to charges
article 2 � June-Sept 2012 Vol. 11, No. 2-3
“
The failure of
the Philippine
National Police to
arrest the other 103
defendants, who
are still at large
two years after the
massacre, has further
delayed the trial of
the case.
”
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