MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court partially granted the urgent motion of opposition of the defense counsel in the presentation of two new witnesses by the prosecution in the “Maguindanao massacre’’ case.

After hearing the sides of the defense and prosecution in Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 ordered a recess as she decided on the urgent motion.

Lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun told the court to defer the presentation of Gemma Oquendo, sister of the slain massacre victim lawyer Cynthia Oquendo-Ayon and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) forensic as it allegedly opens to the floodgates of forgotten, contrived and manufactured testimonies.

He claimed that the nature and manner of the testimonies presented and not the judge are the cause of the delays in the court proceedings, alleging that surprise witnesses are unfair to the accused who “enjoy the presumption of innocence despite media reports.’’

However, Nena Santos and Harry Roque, counsels for some of the massacre victims, said that they have five witnesses ready to take the witness stand but the decision of the court partially granting the defense’s urgent motion opposing the presentation of Oquendo and the NBI forensic expert contributes to the slow pace of the case.

Santos cited that the relatives of the massacre victims are poor, making it extremely difficult for them to fly to Metro Manila to attend court hearings on short notices.

She said that during the pre-trial conference, a printed copy of the download messages from the cellular phones were presented but the new witnesses are vital since they are privy on what messages were obtained from the cellular phone.

Santos added that the defense cannot dictate on the witnesses that the prosecution wants to present in court, adding that the court’s partial opposition on the presentation of their witnesses hampers the fluidity on how they want to offer their pieces of evidences.

Regina Fe Monay Castillo, a relative of the missing victim of the massacre, said it is frustrating for the victims’ families to bear with the progress of the case admitting that she is slowly losing faith in the country’s justice system especially with the court’s alleged continuing opposition in the prosecution’s presentation of its witnesses.

“Hindi piso and pamasahe papunta sa Manila galing sa Mindanao. Kailangan namin ng P15,000 each para makapunta dito sa court hearing (We do not spend P1 for our fare in going to Manila from Mindanao. We need P15, 000 each to go here and attend the court hearings),’’ Castillo added.