MANILA (AFP) - – The judge trying those accused of committing the worst political massacre in Philippine history will drop all her other cases to concentrate on the high-profile trial, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
Powerful Muslim politician Andal Ampatuan Jnr and 16 police officers went on trial earlier this month for the November 2009 murders of 57 people including 30 journalists and relatives of his local rival.
Supreme Court spokesman and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the judge handling the Ampatuan trial has been ordered to hand over her other cases to colleagues.
"That would give her more time to concentrate and focus on the Ampatuan trial," Marquez said, referring to lower court judge Jocelyn Reyes.
Prosecutors had expressed fears that the Ampatuan's wealth and the large numbers of witnesses that both the clan and the government plan to put on the stand, mean the trial could take years to complete.
Nearly 200 people are to stand trial in Reyes' court for the murders, including Ampatuan's father and namesake Andal Ampatuan Snr. and four other detained members of the Ampatuan clan.
About half the suspects remain at large, and rights monitors have accused the Ampatuan family of working behind bars to intimidate some of the witnesses to the murders.
It was unclear if the Supreme Court order would speed up the hearing frequencies, which are now set at twice every month. So far state prosecutors have presented only one out of about 200 planned witnesses.
Andal Ampatuan Jnr, the main defendant, and more than 100 armed followers allegedly shot dead the victims to stop a rival from running against him for the post of provincial governor.
The clan had controlled the southern province of Maguindanao for nearly a decade and, until shortly after the murders, was closely allied with then president Gloria Arroyo, who cut her ties with it after the killings.
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