Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has ordered the panel of prosecutors assigned to the Mamasapano massacre case to seek its transfer from Mindanao to a court in Metro Manila.
Aguirre says, this is to take the pressure off the judge who is handling the case.
A hearing on the Mamasapano clash has been set for January 24, 2017.
“We asked for the transfer and the prosecutors said, gagawin daw nila yon (they will do it),” he said.
Aguirre is responding to the plea from the families of the 44 elite members of the PNP Special Action Force killed in an encounter with Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25, 2015.
The kin of the slain police officers were seeking speedy trial for the complex crime of direct assault with murder filed against 88 respondents.
Aguirre says, prosecutors are just waiting for the court’s issuance of the warrants of arrest against the accused.