MANILA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- On Nov. 23, 2009, 58 people, mostly supporters of a gubernatorial aspirant, were mercilessly gunned down and hacked to death in broad daylight in a remote village road of Maguindanao province, Central Mindanao.
Among the dead, who were dumped later in a common grave, were 33 local journalists, including major Manila-based dailies' correspondents who were assigned to cover the filing of the candidacy of Esmael Mangudadatu who was running against the then incumbent Governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr.
Although it was the then Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the governor 's son, who personally led in spraying the innocent victims with machinegun fires, it was the father, Governor Ampatuan, who was pinpointed as the mastermind in the most gruesome mass murder ever committed in the Philippines.
The Ampatuans, and several others, are now incarcerated in a police detention facility in the suburbs of Manila but the wheels of justice have turned exceedingly slow that only two of the main suspects from the Ampatuan clan have been arraigned after two years.
According to Nestor Burgos, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the main suspect, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., has not been arraigned yet and out of the 196 suspects, only 93 are in jail.
The NUJP, which has spearheaded a campaign to seek justice for the slain journalists, has launched a Facebook page to mark the second anniversary of the massacre.
"Like most of us, even journalists from other countries have been disappointed with how the case has proceeded," Burgos said in an interview with a Manila TV station.
Burgos said that the Maguindanao massacre was the worst violence ever committed against journalists anywhere in the world. "More should have been accomplished in the past two years and it seems justice is still very, very far away especially for the victims and their families."
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is also marking Nov. 23 as the International Day against Impunity for crimes targeting media workers.
The IFJ said the date was specifically chosen to mark the second anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre.
"The IFJ is committed to making this anniversary a day to remember all journalists killed because they believed in the purpose and mission of journalism, to raise awareness about the scandal of impunity and the failure of governments to bring the killers to justice and to pledge to do more to find ways of making journalism safer," the group said.
"This global event provides us with an opportunity to denounce the prevailing culture of impunity for crimes committed against journalists in many countries of the world and call for its end," the IFJ added.
Various events will be held worldwide on Wednesday to highlight the issue.
On the massacre site itself, on a grassy slope, a 13-million- peso (about 300,000 U.S. dollars) memorial will be unveiled on Wednesday to honor the dead and to serve as a reminder of the wholesale slaughter that has shocked the world.
"This is a sacred place, a place for history to honor the dead, " said Jaypee Piang, chief of design, planning and programming division of Maguindanao's provincial engineers' office.
Mangudadatu, whose wife was among the victims of the massacre, has approved the construction of the memorial that contains the names of the victims. Mangudadatu, a relative of the Ampatuans, has won as governor of Maguindanao in the 2010 elections.
The Ampatuan clan, during its heyday in the province, was almost untouchable. As a political kingpin and warlord, the clan maintained a formidable and well-equipped private army that lorded over the police and the military in the province.
|
|
