8 of 10 say trial moving slowly

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) Updated November 24, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - Eight of every 10 Filipinos believe there will be justice for the 57 victims of the Maguindanao massacre, a Pulse Asia survey revealed yesterday.

But Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” national survey, conducted from Oct. 20 to 29, found that a majority of Filipinos or 83 percent think the trial of those implicated in the killings was moving “slowly/very slowly.”

The results of the survey were released exactly a year after the massacre, believed to have been perpetrated by former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his sons. Thirty-two of the victims were journalists.

Nine percent of the 1,200 respondents were undecided on the matter.

The survey showed that 94 percent of Filipinos are aware of the massacre and almost half or 48 percent reported following the developments in the trial.

Awareness of the incident is nearly the same across geographic areas (91 percent to 97 percent) and socio-economic classes (89 percent to 100 percent).

In Metro Manila, half of the respondents claim they are following the massacre trial, while more than half of those in the rest of Luzon, in the Visayas and in Mindanao said they are not.

Despite their disappointment with the pace of the trial, 80 percent of Filipinos believe that in the end, justice will be served. It was a view articulated by majorities in all geographic areas (71 percent to 87 percent) and socioeconomic groupings (77 percent to 81 percent), according to Pulse Asia.

“One of every 10 Filipinos (10 percent) has a contrary opinion on the matter, with basically similar figures being recorded across geographic areas (five percent to 16 percent) and socio-economic classes (nine percent to 15 percent),” Pulse Asia said.

“While those in the Visayas and Mindanao are most inclined to believe that the aggrieved parties in the trial will get justice (85 percent to 87 percent), Metro Manilans are most likely to disagree with this view (16 percent),” it added.

Public ambivalence is expressed by 11 percent of Filipinos, with indecision levels ranging from eight percent to 13 percent across geographic areas and nine percent to 11 percent in Classes ABC, D and E.

The non-commissioned survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults 18 years old and above.

Live coverage

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) is looking into mounting clamor for live TV and radio coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial, including from President Aquino himself.

“This is now being studied by the Court and this position of the President will be taken into consideration,” SC administrator and spokesman Midas Marquez told a press conference yesterday.

Aquino earlier relayed his wish for live TV and radio coverage of the trial in a letter to Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Marquez said the issue was raised during a full-court session after a month-long recess, but the justices opted not to act on it yet.

He stressed that the lack of action “does not necessarily mean that it (case) is not a priority.” He explained that the petition has been in the Court for just two days.

Marquez said Corona forwarded the President’s letter to the SC for consolidation with the petition for live coverage filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

He also said the SC was convinced that that the President’s letter cannot be considered a form of pressure but a “statement of support for the NUJP petition.”

In his letter, the President said live media coverage of the massacre case trial would “make the people aware of, and convinced that, justice is being done.”

“Permitting the trial to be broadcast and covered fully by media would be a great consolation to the relatives of the massacre victims and our fellow citizens who might otherwise have no opportunity to see justice is taking its proper course,” Aquino said in his letter.

“A trial conducted in full public view, with the entire nation and the world allowed to witness the proceedings, sends the message that justice can and will be dispensed without fear or favor and in the full light of day,” he added.

Marquez said changes in the composition of the SC would likely have an effect on the way the justices would vote on the petition.

The SC rejected a petition for live media coverage of the plunder trial of former President Joseph Estrada.

“Unlike other government offices, courts do not express the popular will of the people in any sense which, instead, are tasked to only adjudicate justiciable controversies on the basis of what alone is submitted before them. A trial is not a free trade of ideas, nor is a competing market of thoughts the known test of truth in a courtroom,” the SC said in its ruling then.

“The Court is not all that unmindful of recent technological and scientific advances but to chance forthwith the life or liberty of any person in a hasty bid to use and apply them, even before ample safety nets are provided and the concerns heretofore expressed are aptly addressed, is a price too high to pay,” the SC ruling read.

This SC prohibition covered cellular phones, cameras, laptop computers, and even simple recording devices.

Apart from the petition for live media coverage, the Court is also looking into the proposal of the National Press Club (NPC) to have the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 designated as the exclusive court to handle the massacre case. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes is the presiding judge of Branch 221.

“The Court will study other options because it has always been the intention of the Court to ensure hearings will proceed smoothly without delay,” he explained.

“The Court is keeping its commitment that this case will be decided expeditiously through an orderly, fair trial,” Marquez said.

He said the SC is “satisfied so far” with the performance of Solis-Reyes in handling the case, which he admitted is really difficult to resolve as it involves 57 victims, 197 accused and some 300 to 400 witnesses.

“She (Reyes) is doing her best. That case is really very difficult to handle. Any judge would have a hard time with it,” Marquez added.

For Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, assigning the Maguindanao massacre case to a special court would ensure its swift resolution.

“I think having a special court is much better,” he said.

“Our appeal is for the DOJ (Department of Justice)... give some importance to the case. Whatever they would do, we leave it up to them,” he said. - With Edu Punay, Evelyn Macairan