Maguindanao massacre victims' counsel confident to receive favorable ruling

MANILA - The counsel representing families of Maguindanao massacre victims on Saturday said he is "confident" that culprits behind the Philippines' deadliest election-related attack would be meted a guilty verdict after 10 years of court proceedings.

Lawyer Harry Roque was referring to members of the Ampatuan political clan who allegedly masterminded the brutal ambush on 58 people, including 32 journalists, in 2009 while the convoy was on its way to support the filing of the certificate of candidacy of then gubernatorial candidate Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu.

"Bagama't hindi natin panghihimasukan ang hukuman, nagkaroon naman tayo ng mga ebidensya hindi lang basta testimonial, kundi testimonial na nagkaroon ng corroboration," Roque told DZMM.

(Though we do not want to influence the court, we were able to present evidence and corroborated testimonies.)

"Kampante po kami na nagawa ng mga prosecutors ang kanilang trabaho upang mapatunayan na guilty beyond reasonable doubt," he said.

(We are confident that prosecutors were able to do their job to prove that the suspects were guilty beyond reasonable doubt.)

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Roque, who represents families of 18 Maguindanao massacre victims, said he expects the court to produce a 200 to 300-page decision that covers at least 101 suspects.

The Supreme Court earlier allowed the live coverage of the promulgation of judgment of the Maguindanao massacre on December 19.

• Supreme Court OKs live coverage of Maguindanao massacre ruling