By Ellson Quismorio

Maguindanao 2nd district Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu on Wednesday welcomed the junking of the motion of Maguindanao massacre prime suspect Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. to reopen the trial of what has been dubbed the single deadliest attack on journalists in history.

In a ruling. Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 denied Datu Unsay’s motion for lack of merit.

“I am relieved with the junking of the motion. We have been patiently waiting for the verdict. It has been 10 long, debilitating years but we remain optimistic that justice will be ours,” Mangudadatu said in a statement.

Executed by members of a private armed group on Nov. 23, 2009 in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, were 58 people, 32 of whom were media practitioners. Bai Genalyn, Mangundadatu’s wife, was among the victims of the carnage.

“It’s not easy for us who have lost loved ones to wait this long,” Mangudadatu said. “At some point, some of us have lost faith that we will ever see justice. But God has been good in making us realize that the wait will be all worth it.”

Last August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the verdict in the celebrated case will be rendered before the 10th anniversary of the massacre, saying the prosecution had presented more than sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, at least against the principal accused.

The sheer number of respondents in the case–197 in all, including key members of the Ampatuan family–has prevented a speedy trial.

Then earlier this month, Datu Unsay filed a motion claiming that the prosecution’s primary witness, former Vice Mayor Sakurno Badal, has sent feelers to Datu Unsay’s camp allegedly expressing his willingness to recant his testimony.

To refute Unsay’s claim, the prosecution presented Badal last Oct. 17 in court where he denied he had recanted.

Badal, a suspect-turned-state-witness, testified that as early as 2009, the Ampatuan clan has been plotting to eliminate Mangundadatu after the latter conveyed his interest to run against Datu Unsay for governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The Ampatuans and Mangudadatus are fierce political rivals in Maguindanao.

He also testified that on the day of the massacre, he overheard the late Andal Ampatuan Sr., then the incumbent governor, order Datu Unsay to kill everyone, including members of the media who were covering the filing of Mangudadatu’s candidacy through his wife.