Former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan will remain in jail as the Supreme Court (SC) turned down his petition for bail on murder charges, in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.
In a six-page notice made available to newsmen Wednesday, the SC’s First Division through Division Clerk of Court Librada C. Buena said the court on July 22 resolved to deny Ampatuan’s petition “for lack of merit”.
The decision affirmed the April 2018 ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA), which refused to grant bail to the petitioner.
The court explained that ruling on whether Ampatuan, who is among those charged with 58 counts of murder for the Maguindanao massacre, is entitled to bail could inadvertently result in deciding the main case itself, which is now submitted for resolution before the lower court.
“In determining the veracity of the evidence petitioner presented in support of his denial and alibi and to rebut the evidence of the prosecution, the Court will necessarily have to rule on the admissibility and probative value of these (pieces of) evidence. By deciding for or against his bail application on the basis of factual issues raised by petitioner, the court will be prematurely deciding the case beyond the parameters of judicial review at this stage of the proceedings, and preempt the parties from presenting their respective evidence during trial,” the court said.
“This court is of the view that these issues are best threshed out in a full-blown trial. The court must defer making a conclusion on this matter since the participation of conspirators, principals, accomplices and accessories are matter adjudged as a whole at the conclusion of the evidence-in-chief,” the tribunal pointed out.
Henchmen of the Ampatuan clan allegedly ambushed the convoy of their political rivals, the Mangudadatus, killing the victims who included 32 local newsmen and supporters and relatives of the Mangundadatu clan.
The event is the single most deadly event involving journalists in the country.
Among the witnesses were Esmael “Toto” Mangundadatu, Maganoy, Maguindanao vice mayor Sukarno Badal, and Lakmodin Saliao, the alleged personal assistant of Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr.
The witnesses said the petitioner gave his blessings to the ambush by phone while he was in Manila attending official events and volunteered the use of his cache of firearms and ordered the ambush group to leave no traces after the attack. (PNA)
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the law creating the Davao International Airport Authority (DIAA) to manage the Francisco Bangoy International Airport and other airports in the Davao region.
Malacañang on Tuesday released to the media Republic Act No. 11457 or the Charter of the Davao International Airport Authority which Duterte signed on Aug. 30, 2019.
Under the law, the DIAA will be an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and will be located at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City.
“The Authority shall principally undertake the economical, efficient and effective control, management and supervision of the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City, the existing airports in the Davao Region and such other airports as may thereafter be established in any of the provinces of the same region,” the law read.
The DIAA should also have the following objectives: Encourage, promote, and develop international and domestic air traffic in Davao Region; and upgrade the services and facilities of Francisco Bangoy International Airport at the same time, formulate internationally acceptable standards of airport accommodation and service.
Among its duties and functions include formulating a comprehensive and integrated development policy and program for the Francisco Bangoy International Airport; controlling, supervising, constructing, maintaining, operating, and providing such facilities or services necessary for the airport to function; promulgating rules and regulations governing the planning, development, maintenance, operation and improvement of the Francisco Bangoy International Airport.
The DIAA will also have the power to exercise policy authority in connection with the maintenance of security to passengers, cargoes, aircraft, airport equipment, structures, facilities, personnel, funds and documents; regulation of the entry to, exits from and movement within the airports; maintenance of peace and order within the premises of the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, among others.
The law also requires “all existing public airport facilities, runways, lands, buildings, and other properties, movable or immovable, belonging to or presently administered by the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, and all assets, powers, rights, interests, and privileges relating to airport works or air operations, including all equipment which are necessary for the operation of air navigation, aerodrome control towers, crash, fire, and rescue facilities are hereby transferred to the authority.”
The new airport authority will also administer ongoing projects relating to the construction of Francisco Bangoy International Airport facilities and supply of equipment.
Meanwhile, a Board of Directors will exercise corporate powers over the authority composed of a chairman, vice-chairman, and 13 members.
It designates the Transport Secretary and DIAA general manager as ex-officio chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
The general manager of the Franciso Bangoy International Airport will continue in office until such time a DIAA general manager is appointed. (PNA)
WOMAN SUICIDE BOMBER BLOWS SELF IN ABORTED TERRORIST ATTACK
A woman suspected of being a suicide bomber was killed in an explosion near a military camp in Sulu in the southern Philippines on Sunday, Sept. 7.
The Sulu archipelago is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, one of terrorist groups operating in southern Philippines.
The military said there were no other casualties except the suspected bomber who blew herself up by detonating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) she was carrying.
An alert sentinel thwarted what appeared to be a “suicide bomb attack” targeting the military camp in, said official.
Maj. Arvin John Encinas, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) spokesperson, said the incident, which happened around 5:45 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Kajatian, Indanan, Sulu, resulted in the death of a likely female bomb carrier.
Encinas said the attack was thwarted when the duty sentinel, Cpl. Asmada Sabdani of the 35th Infantry Battalion’s alpha company, noticed “a female person wearing black hijab, known as abaya, who was walking along the road of the Kilometer 3 highway going to the camp.”
Encinas said Sabdani immediately took cover and warned the suspect to stop, while about to enter the camp’s gate.
However he said the suspect disregarded the warning and detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) that caused her death.
He said the suspect was unidentified as her body was shredded into pieces.
He described the suspect as a “woman and foreign looking with long hair based on the recovered mutilated head; however, the recovered dismembered hand is similar to that of a man”.
He added that the trigger mechanism was recovered and investigation is ongoing.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Westmincom chief, has called on every Suluanon to remain vigilant and to report suspicious items and personalities to authoriti“We assure the public that the Westmincom forces shall sustain our security and peace efforts to prevent hostile acts that may disrupt the peace and development in the Bangsamoro Region,” Sobejana said. (PNA)
Former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor 
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