File photo of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the November 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. (Photo by KJ ROSALES)

Massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. pleaded not guilty to 15 more cases of murder in connection with the infamous Maguindanao massacre during his arraignment before the sala of Quezon City Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes inside the national police headquarters in Camp Crame last Wednesday.

The arraignment came as his lawyers tried to establish that their client was only identified as the principal suspect in the grisly killings last November 23 since he was supposed to be the strongest rival of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu in the Maguindanao gubernatorial race this May.

Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Andal town in Maguindanao, is now facing a total of 56 counts of murder, having been arraigned for 41 cases in the first day of trial early last month.

There are 57 bodies recovered from the massacre site in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town, but the information on the remaining case has yet to be filed.

“As far as I know, there is still no complaint on the 57th victim, a certain Momay, because there seems to be difficulty in identifying him because the head was totally damaged,” said Department of Justice Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera.

Dacera was referring to Robert Momay, a journalist from Tacurong City. More than half of the massacre victims were journalists.

The arraignment came as soon as the court started the trial at around 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

“The presence of the accused is indispensable in the arraignment and since he is here, we agree to have him arraigned on the 15 information,” said Ampatuan’s chief legal counsel Siegfried Fortun.

“Not guilty,” Ampatuan Jr. told the court after the charge sheet was read to him. He was then led to his seat by Fortun.

Prior to Thursday’s scheduled cross examination of Mangudadatu, who lost his wife and several relatives in the carnage, private prosecutor Harry Roque manifested for a live coverage of the trial based on the request of not only of the families of the slain media men but also by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Earlier, Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said there would be no live media coverage for the massacre trial because two previous jurisprudences prohibit them, citing the libel case filed by the late President Corazon Aquino and the plunder case of former President Joseph Estrada.

A heated exchange also erupted between Fortun and government prosecutors when Fortun insisted on marking as evidence the charge sheet filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which includes Datu Abdullah Sangki town councilor Mohammad Sangki as one of the respondents.

Sangki testified for the prosecution in last week’s trial and implicated Andal Ampatuan Sr. in the massacre.

During the cross examination, Fortun tried to establish that the only reason why his client was implicated in the massacre is that he was supposed to be the strongest rival of Mangudadatu in the gubernatorial race.

“There is no evidence that it is the Ampatuans (who did the massacre) yet you accused them in your statements,” Fortun told Mangudadatu.

“That is convenient because they are your political opponents,” he added.

Before a forensic expert was presented by the prosecution in the continuing hearing for the petition for bail by Ampatuan Jr., Fortun asked the court to excuse his client since the testimonies would only delve on technical matters.

The presiding judge granted the request after the prosecution lawyers did not object.