Manila: Journalists joined hands to call for justice six years after the Philippines witnessed its worst election-related violence, with the mass execution of 58 people in Maguindanao.
In separate statements, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) continue to demand justice for the victims — 32 of whom were media workers.
“Six years ago, 58 people including 32 journalists and media workers were gunned down and killed by members and supporters of the Ampatuan clan in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province,” NUJP chair Alwyn Alburo said.
The victims, who included supporters and relatives of then gubernatorial candidate Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu, were flagged down on the afternoon of November 23, 2009 by a group of militiamen and police led by then Datu Unsay municipality mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.
They were taken hostage and moved to a secluded area before they were brutally executed in batches by gunfire.
The mass slaying took place during an election period.
FOCAP, for its part, said it joins it colleagues in the local media in calling on the judiciary and the government “to speed up the prosecution of those behind the barbaric atrocity.”
“We note that none of the nearly 200 accused have been convicted, with at least one of them freed on bail and reportedly preparing to contest a local post in Maguindanao. Scores of suspects remain at large.
“As foreign correspondents it is our duty to continue to report on this pressing issue, that this brutal attack on journalists, their families and press freedom itself may never be far from the public’s consciousness,” FOCAP president Simone Orendain said.
The presidential palace said, while it remains committed to serving justice to the victims, the pace of the trial rests in the hands of the judiciary.
“Make no mistake, we are very concerned also. We would certainly like to have the trial of the Ampatuan case hastened as well and, in fact, we do want to see a decision before the President leaves office. But is it something within our control? That is not within our control,” Press Secretary Edwin Lacierda said during a palace briefing.
A number of suspects in the case who turned state witnesses were gunned down while in detention, making it difficult for state lawyers to pursue the case against the accused Ampatuans, who included, among others, Andal Jr’s brother, Zaldy, a dismissed governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
To expedite the case, the Supreme Court has issued an en banc resolution devoting three more judges to the case aside from Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, who is the hearing judge.
Patriarch Andal Ampatuan, Sr., who was said to have issued the order to kill the victims, died while confined at a government hospital in July.
