MANILA - Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said Tuesday that he does not want the Maguindanao massacre hearings conducted in the capital city citing security concerns.

Lim said holding hearings in any regional trial court in Manila may not be safe for Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and the offices where the court branches are located.

In Manila, most of the courts are housed at the Manila City Hall while a number are at the Napocor building at the port area.

A community of Muslims live in nearby Quiapo district.
 
The Manila mayor's pronouncement came as Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said they are considering asking the Supreme Court to transfer the hearings of the murder charges filed against Ampatuan Jr. from Cotabato City to Metro Manila.

Government prosecutors earlier filed 25 counts of murder against Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in the massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province last November 23.

The murder cases were filed before the Cotabato Regional Trial Court Branch 15 by an investigation panel from Manila headed by State Prosecutor Leo Dacera.

Lawyer Edilberto Jamora, the panel's spokesman, explained that each count is represented by almost 40 pages of documents.

"We only filed 25 because at the time of the inquest proceedings, those were only available medical records of the victims," he said.

He said more charges will be filed against the Datu Unsay mayor as the investigation continues.

Other members of the Ampatuan clan, including Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Jr. and ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan are being investigated for the massacre.

Devanadera had said that several witnesses told prosecutors and police investigators that at least 9 members of the Ampatuan clan were involved in the massacre.

She said the Ampatuans have varying roles in the massacre, most of them included in the planning stages of the gruesome crime. With reports from Maan Macapagal and Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News