A court has cleared 42 out of 272 suspected Moro National Liberation Front militants charged with rebellion and genocide in connection with the September 2013 siege in Zamboanga City. In a 12-page document, the court said the charges were dropped because "there is nothing that will connect them to the alleged rebellion that took place."The statement continued, "The mere act of running away from the battle zone cannot implicate them; there is no evidence showing any overt act of complicity to the crime of rebellion or to an armed public uprising; that paraffin tests conducted on them yielded negative results for gunpowder nitrates; to continue to hold them for trial despite absence of probable cause will simply be an injustice."
Mayor Isabelle Salazar said she was unhappy with the way things turned out. She said, "We will pursue justice in memory of those who died and the sovereignty of Zamboanga City. At all cost, justice must be sought."