ni Rey Panaligan

Pinagtibay ng Court of Appeals (CA) ang desisyon nito na pinaboran ang desisyon ng isang trial court na payagang makapagpiyansa si Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan, anak ni dating Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., na ang angkan ay itinuturong utak sa Maguindanao massacre noong 2009 na ikinamatay ng 58 katao, kabilang ang 32 mamamahayag.

Sa apat na pahinang resolusyon na isinulat ni Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, bilang sagot sa apela ng government prosecutors, nagpasya ang CA na limitado lamang ang kapangyarihan nito para magrepaso sa pagtutukoy kung nagkaroon ng grave abuse of discretion o hindi si Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes ng Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) sa inilabas na bail order.

“Indeed, our power or review does not include encroaching upon the lower court’s prerogative of determining the witnesses whose testimonies are relevant to the application of bail as well as the power of according probative weight to said witnesses’ testimonies in the absence of any showing that the exercise of such discretion was gravely abused by the trial court – an imputation we find wanting in the instant case,” anang CA.