He who has courage cast the first stone
Judges are supposed to be courageous. But there are extreme cases where fear gets the better of judges such as the Ampatuan case. Despite the power and influence of being a judge, the job’s perceived invincibility does not provide much comfort or safety once he mess with the clan.
The recent “show of fear” by judges when the Ampatuan murder cases were raffled off in trial courts in Mindanao simply shows that judges in this country may not spared from misfortune once they take on celebrated cases such as the Maguindanao massacre. Many judges cowered at the prospect of passing judgment on the Ampatuans who can strike back with their own guns or with those that they can hire. The Ampatuans are so powerful (playing God in Maguindanao
says one witness) they can even jolt anyone with their mere heinous reputation. Instilling fear itself is already a form of their retaliation, that’s why no judge seems to want to strike the gavel on them and earn their wrath.
Their Manila counterparts also refused to judge the Ampatuans… their considerable physical distance from Mindanao or the Ampatuan homestead does not promise immunity from an Ampatuan reprisal. The clan after all, is omnipresent, omnipotent… and even omnivorous as men, women, Christian, Muslim, powerful and commoner are fair game.
In a way I don’t totally blame judges. It is human nature to invoke the right to “self preservation” especially when confronted by life threatening situations like judging dangerous criminals.
Anyone who knows what the Ampatuans are capable of doing will surely think twice about having anything to do with the clan at all. At this time, no one wants to be friend (or foe) of the Ampatuans let alone judge and convict them to a life of misery.
For a clan this influential may still be able to strike back at enemies even behind bars. Clearly for judges, no case is worth dying for. Taking on the Ampatuan murder cases means risking not just a judge’s life but that of his loved ones. Quoting Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Luisito Cortes’ newspaper interview, “What is glory without family?”
Judging the Ampatuans also entails a lot of work and I think this has made judges shun away from it. Work includes incidentals such as pressure from all around, for judges to be fair and expedient in delivering justice to both defendant and victims. The political maneuvering and possible back channel talks for or against the Ampatuans would mean sleepless nights. Judges will be hounded by calls and text messages pressuring them to condemn or acquit the guilty.
They will be approached by emissaries with Godfathery “offers they can’t refuse” such as bribes in unspeakable amounts that would truly test their character.
Even the victims’ loved ones and sympathizers would appeal to the judges’ emotions. After all the carnage of 57 people in Shariff Aguak, their individual life stories and their collective suffering are something that would move anyone who’s human and humane.
While judges nationwide refused to hear the Ampatuan murder cases, a ray of hope shone at the Quezon City Trial Court where the unassuming Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes said yes to the job.
Hers is a task Herculean to say the least. The bigger challenge to Reyes is staying as impartial in the least foreboding of ways. Many of those killed, tortured and violated were women like herself.
The Maguindanao Massacre is also a sensational news story because many of the victims were media practitioners. Fellow journalists themselves are pressing for justice by making sure that the Maguindanao Massacre remains a regular news feature. To the media it is important that the ruthlessness of the act would remain fresh in the minds and hearts of everyone to sustain public clamor for swift justice.
And it does not seem to end, now that many of the suspects have been rounded up and put behind bars. The Maguindanao Massacre is getting painful by the day because it is only now that witnesses are coming out to tell the horrific experience each victim had to go through when they were killed. A witness came forward to tell about the gruesome murders by a gun weilding, trigger happy Andal Ampatuan Jr. who ignored the pleadings of his victims to spare them. The picture of Ampatuan laughing all the way as he planted bullets on the brains and bodies of
innocent people (some are even his acquaintances) is quite a distrubing mental image one can’t shake off easily.
But more than stocking up on bravery, the bigger challenge for any judge hearing the Maguindanao Massacre is staying objective which is hard to do. Not when one’s humanity gets in the way.
