Kabataan Partylist today decried the junking of the rebellion case against the Ampatuans and other suspects in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre.

Members of Kabataan Partylist and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines held a candle-lighting protest at the Boy Scout Monument in Quezon City this evening to condemn the court’s decision.

“We have expected this. The rebellion case filed against them was designed and programmed to exonerate the Ampatuans at the onset. The rebellion case served as their defense against multiple murder charges. This is Arroyo and her allies at work,” said Vencer Crisostomo, Kabataan Partylist secretary-general.

He said that the Ampatuans and their clan may be released from detention anytime soon because the rebellion case buried the multiple charges against them.

“If there was no case of rebellion, they would have been charged with 57 counts of murder and illegal possession of firearms. The Arroyo government is now allowing the Ampatuans and other suspects to get away with the most merciless massacre in recent Philippine history by passing them off as ‘rebels’,” he said.

“By endorsing Presidential Proc. 1959, Arroyo and her allies in Congress have paved the way for this injustice.”

Last December, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed Maguindanao under martial rule. As a result, lawyers of the Ampatuan were given an opening to embrace rebellion in lieu of criminal charges. ###

Reference:
Vencer Crisostomo, Secretary-General, 0917-4416739
Gerg Anrol Cahiles, Media Officer, 0927-3670948