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TRUMP IMPEACHED FOR ‘ABUSE OF POWER’ PRESIDENT Donald Trump was impeached for abuse of power in a historic vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), setting up a Senate trial on removing him from office
President Donald Trump
after three turbulent years. By a 230 to 197 vote in the Democratic-majority House, the 45th US president became just the third occupant of the White House in American history to be impeached.
Democrats said they had “no choice” but to formally charge the 73-year-old Republican, whose impeachment along stark party lines places an indelible stain on his record while driving a spike ever
deeper into the US political divide. “What is at risk here is the very idea of America,” said Adam Schiff, the lawmaker who led the impeachment inquiry, ahead of the vote. Next page
VOL. XXXIII • NO. 309 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Verdict worth 10-year wait —prosecutors By Rey E. Requejo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon R. Araneta THE members of the Department of Justice prosecution panel on Thursday said they were happy with the judgment rendered by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on the Maguindanao massacre case, which resulted in the conviction of 28 principal accused in the mass killing of 58 individuals, including 32 journalists. Speaking on behalf of the 10-man prosecution panel, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said the DOJ prosecutors were satisfied with the decision by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, but they acknowledged that their work is not yet over. “Although some of the accused were acquitted, it does not mean that the prosecution failed. Of course, in a way we’re happy with the decision that was rendered,” Fadullon said in a press conference. In her 761-page decision, the Quezon City RTC found 28 of the 197 accused guilty, including the eight members of the influential Ampatuan clan. They were found guilty for 57 counts of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole. However, 15 of the accused were sentenced to six to 10 years of imprisonment for being accessories to the crime. Fiftysix of the accused were acquitted, including four Ampatuan family members: Jonathan, Jimmy, Datu Akmad Tato, and Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan. Fadullon said the prosecution will review the decision and regroup after the holidays to study their next legal action. “I think it is premature for us (to say that more accused should have been convicted) considering that the decision is 700 plus pages. We would go over the decision. The prosecution panel knows the evidence it presented in the course of the trial. I think we have an inkling who we Next page
Missing victim gets no justice
Guilty as charged; 5 Ampatuans in jail • 4 others, 56 more acquitted • Ruling partial, 80 suspects at large • Masterminds to pay civil damages By Rio N. Araja, Joyce Pangco Pañares, Angelica Villanueva and Charles Dantes
F
IVE members of the Ampatuan clan were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt Thursday for the massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao—the worst case of election-related violence in the country’s history. Former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his brother, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, were convicted for 57 counts of murder. Other members of the Ampatuan clan who Next page
SO ORDERED. This handout from the Supreme Court-Public Information Office, taken and released Thursday, shows presiding judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes speaking during the verdict for the 2009 Maguindanao massacre at the trial venue inside a prison facility in Manila. AFP
Judge dares where others fear to tread
By Joyce Pangco Pañares
By Rey E. Requejo
TEN years ago, 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, were slaughtered in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, in the worst case of election-related violence in the country’s history. But on Thursday, only 57 of them received justice. “When I heard the number 57, I knew right away my father’s case was not included,” said Ma. Reynafe Castillo, daughter of Victim Number 58, photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, whose body has yet to be found. “Nabingi na po ako. Wala na akong narinig after nung 57 (I went deaf. I did not hear anything after hearing the number 57),” said Castillo, who
TEN years and two days after she was assigned to the case, Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes handed down her judgment in the country’s most celebrated case of mass murder, finding members of the powerful Ampatuan clan guilty beyond reasonable doubt of killing 58 people—including 32 journalists—on Nov. 23, 2009. Reyes’ verdict was contained in a 761page decision, highlights of which were read aloud by Clerk of Court Aissa Sto.
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30 YEARS SANS PAROLE.
The masterminds of the Philippines’ worst political massacre in 2009 Zaldy Ampatuan (top right) and Andal ‘Datu Unsay’ Ampatuan Jr. (below) of the powerful political dynasty are found guilty of the murder of 58 people, including 32 journalists—in a rare conviction of mighty personalities in a country notorious for its perceived culture of impunity. At right, an unidentified court employee reading the court verdict while surviving victims’ relatives are celebrating in Taguig City.
Domingo, before a jam-packed courtroom inside the Metro Manila District Jail Annex 2, in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. Reyes took on the multiple murder cases after Quezon City RTC Branch 84 Presiding Judge Luisito Cortez to whom the case was first raffled off to on Dec. 15, 2009 opted to inhibit himself from handling the case for fear that he and his family could be the target of attacks from the accused members of the Ampatuan clan, whose clout could reach Metro Manila. Next page