MANILA, Philippines -– The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the rebellion charges filed against the Ampatuan clan and their allies.
The Ampatuans were charged with rebellion following the massacre of 57 civilians, including 15 women and 30 media practitioners in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province on Nov. 23, 2009.
In a three-page resolution written by Associate Justice Elihu Ybanez, the CA's Former Special Seventeenth Division upheld its earlier ruling issued on Dec. 15, 2011 affirming the ruling of Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 227 Presiding Judge Vivencio Baclig.
The Quezon City RTC Branch 227 had dismissed the rebellion charges against the Ampatuans due to lack of probable cause.
In its ruling, the CA said that the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) lacks merit because it failed to present new arguments.
Among others, those exonerated from the rebellion charges are former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, former Maguindanao Acting Gov. Sajid Islam Ampatuan and Akmad Tato Ampatuan.
