THE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the petition filed by Maguindanao massacre alleged mastermind Andal Ampatuan Jr., seeking to nullify the order of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City discharging a former mayor and ally as state witness in the 57 counts of murder filed against him and 196 others.
In a 16-page decision penned by Associate Justice Myra Garcia-Fernandez, the CA’s Fifth Division held that respondent, QC RTC Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, did not commit grave abuse of discretion when she allowed the exclusion, as an accused, of Sukarno Badal in the Maguindanao massacre case on the basis of the latter’s admission to the Witness Protection Program, even without conducting a hearing on his qualifications to be a state witness.
“Even if Badal has not been arraigned but he was provisionally admitted to the WPP as shown by the certificate issued by the respondent DOJ [Department of Justice], Badal may be excluded as an accused upon motion of the public prosecutor as provided under Section 14, Rule 110 of the Rules of Court, as amended,” the CA ruled.
Under the said provision: “A complaint or information may be amended, in form or in substance, without leave of court, at any time before the accused enters his plea. After the plea and during the trial, a formal amendment may only be made with leave of court and when it can be done without causing prejudice to the rights of the accused.”
It added that “any amendment before the plea, which downgrades the nature of the offense charged in or excludes any accused from the complaint or information, can be made only upon motion by the prosecutor with notice to the offended party and with leave of court.
“Petitioner’s argument that respondent judge relinquished her judicial function to the caprices of the prosecution has no leg to stand on,” the CA added.
Based on the records, Badal was included as one of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre case; however, he was not arraigned because he was provisionally admitted to the WPP pursuant to Section 12 of Republic Act 6981 or The Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act.
Thus, the DOJ filed a motion to defer his arraignment of Badal and to allow amendment of the information excluding him as accused in the case. The DOJ claimed that there is necessity for Badal’s testimony, because there are matters, which according to the prosecution, only he has personal knowledge of.
Badal testified he was at the massacre site and he saw Andal Jr. firing at the victims.
He added that it was Andal Sr. who ordered his son over a two-way radio to kill everyone in the convoy.