Category: Maguindanao massacre

Prayers amid dismay for justice for victims of Ampatuan massacre

Published by Ellen on November 23, 2014

Five years ago, a crime so heinous was perpetrated by persons in authority, in a remote village in Maguindanao in Southwestern Mindanao.

Fifty-eight persons lay dead after Andal Ampatuan, Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay town and his men were through with their shooting spree. He then asked for a backhoe in the office of his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr., who was then governor of the province, to be brought to the crime scene to bury the dead bodies.

Among the dead was Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of the political rival of the Ampatuans, Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, who was supposed to file the certificate of candidacy of her husband challenging the position of the Ampatuan patriarch.

Of the 58 victims, 32 were members of media, who were supposed to cover the political event.

11 facts that render allegations of bribery vs Harry Roque ridiculous

Published by Ellen on August 10, 2014

Harry Roque with relatives of the victims. Photo by Lito Ocampo, CMFR.

The murderous Ampatuans must be enjoying the spectacle of the prosecutors in the Maguindanao massacre destroying each other.

Atty. Nena Santos, representing 25 of the of the 58 who were killed in a massacre in a secluded hill in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009, has alleged that government and fellow private prosecutor Harry Roque, of having been bribed by the Ampatuans to lose the case.

Santos represents Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, husband of victim Genalyn Mangudadatu and political rival of the Ampatuan family.

It will be recalled that Genalyn, accompanied by family members, political associates and members of media were abducted while on their way to file the candidacy of Mangudadatu for governor against Andal Ampatuan Jr, son of the then incumbent, Andal Ampatuan Sr. They were brought to a secluded hill and killed by Andal Jr and his henchmen. Of the 58 killed, 34 were media workers, earning for the Philippines the reputation of one of the most dangerous places for journalists.

What happened to the truckloads of money from Ampatuans’ houses in 2009?

Published by Ellen on June 27, 2013

One of Ampatuans' mansions. Thanks Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews for the photo. — One of Ampatuans’ mansions. Thanks Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews for the photo.

The aborted P50 million each settlement with the relatives of 14 (of the 58) victims of the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre with a certain Jun Chan raised the question,“”Where was that huge sum of money supposed to come from?”

There is no chance to ask Chan the identity of his principal because Mylah Reyes-Roque, in an article for VERA Files, said the settlement was signed third week of February and Chan was killed when his vehicle was ambushed on his way to his farm in General Santos City last March 25.

Although the relatives of the victims met only with Chan accompanied by someone introduced only to them as “Prof”, they were sure that the principal of the two were the former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr and members of his family who are the primary suspects in the massacre because the deal involved their signing an affidavit of desistance.

Mindboggling, troubling offers for Maguindanao massacre victims

Published by Ellen on June 25, 2013

There are a number of disturbing things in the aborted settlement between the Ampatuans and the relatives of the 14 victims of the Nov 23, 2009 massacre that was considered the deadliest day for journalists (32 of the 58 victims were members of media.

It was aborted because the negotiator, identified in the article of Mylah Reyes-Roque for VERA Files a Jun Chan was killed in an ambush in General Santos city last March 25. The death of Chan underscores the chilling reality that four years after massacre, the killing has not stopped.

Ampatuan victims open to negotiated settlement due to delay in trial

Published by Ellen on June 24, 2013

By Mylah Reyes-Roque, VERA Files Tired of the slow pace of justice, relatives of 14 of the 58 fatalities in November 2009 Ampatuan massacre had…

Reynaldo Momay, Vice Vulgar

Published by Ellen on May 30, 2013

“It took our family 32 months of waiting before the court has officially recognized my father as the 58th victim of the gruesome killing and 42 months before the arraignment of suspects took place,” wrote Ma Reynafe Momay Castillo in her Facebook page.

It’s a bit strange to feel thankful to get confirmation that your father was one of those murdered but it’s definitely a step forward in the search for justice for the victims of the most gruesome crimes that this country has experienced.

Ma. Reynafe’s father was photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay. He was included in the list of victims of the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre only last year (July 2, 2012) because his body was never found.

Three years after, justice remains elusive to Maguindanao massacre victims

Published by Ellen on November 13, 2012

massacre photo with backhoe — A most heinous crime

Talk of perfect timing.

Eleven days before the third anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre that killed 58 people, 32 of them members of media, the Supreme Court granted the petition of the primary accused – former mayor Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr to ban live broadcast of the trial.

It’s another step backward for transparency,an attribute of a working democracy.

Ampatuan told the high court that its June 2011 decision penned by then Associate Justice, now Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio-Morales live coverage of the trial deprived him of his rights to due process, equal protection, presumption of innocence, and to be shielded from degrading psychological punishment.

Tingting Cojuangco lobbying for some policemen in Maguindanao massacre?

Published by Ellen on October 7, 2012

Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, who is running for senator under the United Nationalist Alliance ticket, is lobbying for the dropping of a number of policemen from the list of the accused in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre where 58 persons were killed, a source closely working in the case, said.

Thirty-two of those killed were media workers.

Next month, Nov. 29, the media community and those who value the role of a free press in democracy, will mark the third anniversary of the tragedy that earned for the Philippines the notorious tag of being one of the three most dangerous places in the world for journalists. We share the ignominious label with war-torn countries Iraq and Somalia.

Three years have passed and the victims have not yet been rendered justice.

And here’s Cojuangco, aunt of the President Aquino, lobbying for those involved in the massacre.

Last minute again

Published by Ellen on December 5, 2011

25mansion2 — Unfinished mansion of the Ampatuans

I hope doing things at the last minute is not SOP in the Aquino administration.

It happened in the case of Gloria Arroyo when it took them one year and five months to file a case against her and only when there was a possibility that she would flee the country to avoid accountability.

It happened again in the case of the frozen assets of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and members of his family who are principal suspects in the massacre of 58 persons, 32 of them media workers, on Nov. 23, 2009 in Maguindanao.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc., in a statement, said that a week before the Dec. 2 expiry of the freeze order on the Ampatuan assets consisting of 597 bank accounts, 142 firearms, 132 motor vehicles, and 113 houses and lots, they called the attention of the Office of the Solicitor General and the Anti-Money Laundering Council about it.

Freeze order on Ampatuan assets expires

Published by Ellen on December 2, 2011

Joint statement of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists Inc. and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on the Expiry of the Freeze Order on the Assets of the Ampatuans
2 December 2011

Today, December 2, 2011, the six-month freeze order the Court of Appeals issued – on petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) – on the 597 bank accounts, 142 firearms, 132 motor vehicles, and 113 houses and lots in the names of 27 members of the Ampatuan clan and their associates expired.

We have also learned that it was only yesterday, December 1, when the AMLC filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, a petition for civil forfeiture with a prayer for a new freeze order with the Manila regional trial court. As of the close of office hours, we have not received confirmation from the OSG, the AMLC, or the trial court if the freeze order, or provisional asset protection order (PAPO), had been issued.

We view with great alarm the unwarranted delay and apparent lack of attention and negligence that the AMLC and the OSG had accorded this case.