Q: WHAT HAS THE GOVERNMENT DONE TO SPEED UP THE TRIAL?
A: Because of backlogs and inadequate number of judges and prosecutors, the average case in the Philippines can take a decade to solve. To avoid this, the Supreme Court has created a special court just for the massacre. It assigned two judges to help the presiding judge.
The special trial court has also encouraged prosecutors to submit witnesses' statements in writing to save time. Many, however, continue to call witnesses to the stand because they want to avoid additional paperwork.
The government has strengthened its witness protection program, but in a country with rampant extrajudicial killings, testifying against the rich and powerful means taking big chances. For example, Esmail Amil Enog had testified that he drove dozens of gunmen to the site of the massacre from the residence of one of the suspects. A year later, in 2012, he was shot dead and his body chopped to pieces. He refused the witness protection, saying it was too difficult for him to live in hiding, according to justice officials.
There's also suspicion that the key suspects would prefer a court ruling after Aquino's term ends in 2016, hoping for a more favorable outcome. The Ampatuans were political allies of Aquino's predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She has been detained on vote-rigging charges.
Q: HOW HAS THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND CHANGED SINCE THE MASSACRE?
A: A volatile mix of unlicensed firearms, private armies and guns-for-hire, Muslim insurgent groups, weak law enforcement and a violent history of clan wars has endured beyond the massacre.
Out of the 197 massacre suspects, at least 84 mostly militiamen who were loyal to the Ampatuans remain at large and have reportedly joined other armed groups.
Still, the government considers the arrests of the Ampatuans and their removal from power a change for the better. Some Ampatuan relatives still hold local posts, but are “more subdued and quiet,” said regional military spokesman Col. Dickson Hermoso.
A repeat of a massacre on a similar scale is unlikely, he said.
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