Members of an Arroyo-allied political clan accused of killing 57 people in a gruesome massacre in Maguindanao province have declined to contest charges against them.

Sigfrid Fortun, counsel of Andal Ampatuan Jr., the massacre’s prime suspect, waived the defendant’s right to file a counter affidavit during the first preliminary investigation into the case on Friday.

The move “would end the case once and for all,” Fortun told reporters after the proceedings at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, one week before Christmas.

Considered as a surprise move, the strategy would involve disputing evidence that the government had collected against Ampatuan so far, Romel Bagares, a lawyer who represented complainants against Ampatuan, told GMANews.TV.

Evidence collected by the prosecution include witnesses’ testimonies, high-powered arms, ammunition, and vehicles, including a backhoe that reportedly failed to bury victims’ bodies after it ran out of fuel.

Fortun saw no point in disputing murder accusations against his client because he claimed that Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera had long shown bias against Ampatuan Jr., a mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao.

Ampatuan Jr. is accused of ordering the murder of 57 people last November 23, most of whom formed part of a political rival’s convoy.

The convoy, which included 31 media workers, was on their way to Shariff Aguak town to file Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu’s certificate of candidacy for governor of Maguindanao.

The group was forced to take a detour three kilometers off a national highway. After being told to disembark at gunpoint, occupants of the convoy’s six vehicles, were later shot to death in broad daylight.

-gmanews