GORDON COMMENDS QC JUDGE FOR MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE RULING

Senator Richard J. Gordon commended Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes for finally bringing closure to the Maguindanao massacre case which spanned almost a decade.

"Judge Reyes deserves to be commended for continuing with the case to its conclusion after she took over from another QC judge. The lady judge displayed her commitment to fulfilling her duty to dispense justice fairly even in the face of considerable intimidation. It was a very hard work for her," he said.

Reyes, presiding judge of QCRTC Branch 221, declared several members of the influential Ampatuan clan guilty of multiple murder for the massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao in 2009 that is known as the single deadliest attack on journalists in the world and an unprecedented case of election-related violence.

Among the Ampatuan clan members who were found guilty for 57 counts of murder were former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan Sr., Anwar "Ipi" Ampatuan Jr., and Anwar Sajid "Ulo" Ampatuan. Two Ampatuans -- Akmad alias "Tato" and Sajid Islam Ama -- were meanwhile acquitted. Family patriarch, Andal, Sr., was considered a main suspect but he died of liver cancer in 2015 while the case was being tried.

Gordon also pointed out that with Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10592 or the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law, the respondents who were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or a maximum of 40 years without benefit of parole, would not be able to use the law to get their way out of the national penitentiary.

"The GCTA law is very clear that prisoners convicted of heinous crimes are not eligible to avail of the benefit of this law. It's implementing rules and regulation has also been revised hence the abusive implementations, that the contradictions in the previous IRR allowed, would no longer be possible.