Article Archive

The defense panel invokes the high bar of "presumption of innocence" for the accused, under the Constitution. The prosecution says it has presented evidence and eyewitnesses to show that Datu Unsay Ampatuan committed the crime beyond reasonable doubt.

He purchased eight of the properties in Davao City of Andal Ampatuan Jr. Young and recently married lawyer in 2012, Arnel Cortez Manaloto is based in Angeles City, Pampanga, roughly a thousand kilometers north of the Maguindanao province of his more famous client.

There is, according to defense lawyers, not enough evidence to convict Datu Unsay Ampatuan. for the massacre of 58 persons. His lawyer said neither the bullets nor the guns used in the massacre were presented in court, and that the prosecution presented “incentivized witnesses” who testified in exchange for money or favors, or were relatives of the Mangudadatus.

The Court of Appeals had ordered the freezing of all the known assets of Andal Ampatuan Sr., his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy, and 25 other Ampatuan family members on June 6, 2011. The order covered 597 bank accounts, 113 real properties, 142 firearms, and 132 motor vehicles allegedly owned by the Ampatuans. By then, however, Andal Jr. had sold eight real properties.