MANILA, Philippines - The Maguindanao massacre trial was deferred anew on Wednesday due to separate motions filed by government prosecutors and the defense.

A radio dzMM report said Judge Jocelyn Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 deferred the hearing to give both camps ample time to reply to the separate motions. She said she will schedule the next hearing only after she has received the replies.

The report said the prosecution filed a motion to amend the criminal information it has filed, and to allow them to include 196 other suspects in the multiple murder charge sheet.

Only members of the Ampatuan clan and their close supporters, including Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., have been included in the multiple murder charge sheet.

The radio report said that the defense camp filed several motions, including a motion for inhibition filed by Ampatuan Jr., asking Reyes not to preside over the case.

Suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Saudi Ampatuan, who is in jail for rebellion, has also filed motions to suspend the proceedings and to defer the issuance of a warrant of arrest for murder against him.

His lawyer told the court that he would be filing before the Department of Justice a petition to review the murder complaints filed by the police against him.

Abdulwahid Pertukasan, another suspect in the murder of 57 people in Ampatuan, Maguindanao province last Nov. 23, 2009, asked the court to issue judicial determination of probable cause before allowing his inclusion in the multiple murder case.

Meanwhile, Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Vice-Mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, for the first time, did not attend the hearing. The report said Mangudadatu's lawyer told mediamen that he would not be able to attend the hearing because of a very important appointment.

Mangudadatu's wife, 2 sisters and several relatives were among the massacre victims.

Another first during Wednesday's hearing was the presence of Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera. She told reporters that she had been scheduled to attend past hearings, but could not make it because the justice department is crammed with pending cases.

Devanadera said she attended Wednesday's hearing to personally see how the government prosecutors are doing in court.

"I just want to make sure that we are on track," she said. With a report from Nelson Lubao, radio dzMM