Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra deferred the issuance of his ruling on the joint motion for reconsideration (MR) seeking to reverse the April 16, 2009 resolution which cleared two members of the Ampatuan clan of the multiple murder charges as he decided to wait for the filing of supplemental MR of the complainants.

This developed as the counsel of 13 out 57 families of November 23, 2009 massacre victims filed Thursday motion to vacate the April 16, 2010 resolution of Agra.

Agra decided to defer the release of the resolution after lawyers of the victims’ families informed the DoJ that they are filing a supplemental motion today, Friday, defending their position that the two Ampatuan members should not be absolved.

Last Monday, Agra vowed during flag-raising rites that he will resolve the joint MR within the week.

But Agra stressed that his self-imposed deadline has to be moved to accommodate additional pleadings and even evidence from the complainants.

"The DoJ would await the supplemental motion for reconsideration to be filed by the lawyers of private respondents on April 30,” Agra said.

Furthermore, Agra said the DoJ received a manifestation from lawyer Nena Santos, the counsel on record of 25 private complainants, that they will file a supplemental motion also on Friday.

“While Atty. Nena Santos had previously filed a Motion for Reconsideration last week, the rules on appeals provides that they have ten (10) days from receipt of a copy of the Resolution within which to file an MR. The records show that the 10th day falls on 30 April 2010,” Agra added.