Five years after Maguindanao massacre, still no justice for this ‘complex case’

DOJ Sec. Leila De Lima. Photo courtesy of UNTV

In explaining the extreme delay in the trial of the suspects of the 5-year-old Maguindanao massacre case, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said: “They should understand how complex the case is.”

Speaking on Friday before members of the international press, de Lima said that “the government is doing its best,” and that the prosecution was not “remiss” in its task.

The justice secretary pointed out that those unfamiliar with the legal process might think otherwise; that it was “easy” for them to “to find fault in those handling (the trial).”

She stressed, however, that “if you regard the overview of the case and know how many witnesses were presented, (you’d) know why it is taking a long time.”

De Lima cited that the case is made all the more complex by the fact that there are 58 victims, 197 accused, 147 witnesses presented by the prosecution, and nearly 300 witnesses presented by the defense.

“These factors (explain) why it’s taking a long time,” the justice secretary said. “But it should be understood that the wheels of justice are rolling.

The judge and the prosecutors are doing their best,” she noted.

De Lima said that she is planning to meet with the kin of the massacre victims on Sunday – which marks the fifth anniversary of the brutal, politically motivated murder of 58 people on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao – to assure them that the case has not been forgotten and that the administration is doing what it can to expedite the trial.