Photos by Mario Ignacio IV
Marking the second year of the Maguindanao massacre, journalists pledged to resist any attempt to trample a person’s right to life and free expression.
Making life worth living.
Category: Maguindanao massacre
A tweet by Federico Pascual is shared by many who lament the slow pace of the trial: “If only PNoy could show the same speed & single-mindedness in prosecuting the plotters & killers in 2-year-old Ampatuan masssacre.”
In a statement the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said “Two years after the gruesome crime, 103 of the 196 suspects remain at large and only two of the principal suspects have been arraigned. The case remains snagged on hearings on petitions for bail of the accused.”
Sa iba’t-ibang imbestigasyun na lumabas, may ilang mga pinagkatiwalaan si Arroyo sa mga hindi kanais-nais na kanyang pinaggagawa para manatili sa kapangyarihan. Ang ilan mga nababanggit at si dating Police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane, dating Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, dating Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
Ngunit malabo kung babaligtad itong tatlo laban sa kanilang dating amo. Kaya dapat kasama na rin sila na kakasuhan para managot sa mga kasalanan na ginawa nila sa taumbayan.
Siyempre sa malalaking operasyun na bilyun-bilyun na piso ang nakasalalay, marami tao ang kailangan a at meron nang kumakanta. Maganda siguro tingnan kung paano sila pinakanta ng mga tauhan ni Aquino. Ngunit sa ngayon, ang ilang kaso ay nakasalalay sa kanilang testimonya.
“That is a new case, a totally different case and we can consider them, or whoever, it is Zaldy Ampatuan or Lintang Bedol. It would depend on the extent of their participation, “ De Lima said a day after Zaldy and former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol said in separate interviews with ABS-CBN’s Anthony Taberna where they dangled information everybody knew about cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections. Nothing in the published reports, though, directly implicates Gloria Arroyo.
De Lima also echoed Malacañang’s assurance that Zaldy will not be considered state witness in the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre that killed at least 58 persons, 32 of them journalists. This was despite the offer of Zaldy that he was willing to turn his back on his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr, identified by witnesses as the mastermind of the gruesome murders, and his brother, Andal Jr, identified as the triggerman.
Update:
Malacañang statement:
In keeping with the President’s longstanding position that the cause of justice and sustained reforms in ARMM require live coverage of the Maguindanao Massacre Trial, Secretary Herminio Coloma of the PCOO has instructed NBN4 to undertake a gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial.
Related links:
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2011/june2011/10-11-5-SC.htm
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/223349/nation/sc-allows-live-coverage-of-maguindanao-massacre-trial
http://harryroque.com/
Sa dami ng kundisyunes na binigay ng Supreme Court para makapag-cover ng live ang TV, Malabo na rin mangyayari.
Ayun sa desisyun na sinulat ni Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales na sinang-ayunan naman ng lahat na justices, isang TV camera lang ang papayagan sa loob ng korte kung saan doon kukuha na ng “feed” ang ibang TV networks.
Walang problema sa kundisyun na ito. Nagawa na ito sa ibang kaso katulad ng kay dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada.
Kasama si Zaldy sa nakasuhan ng multiple murder sa masaker ng 58 na tao, 32 doon ay mga journalists, noong Nobyembre 23, 2009. Ang itinurong nagsagawa ng masaker ay ang kanyang kapatid na si dating Mayor Andal Jr. Sabit din ang kanilang ama na si Andal Sr. Sobra isang daang tao ang nakasakdal sa kasong ito.
Pinuna ko si Calleja sa aking kolum noong isang buwan. Nadismaya ako sa kanya dahil kilala ko si Howie bilang ma-prinsipyo na abogado. Abogado siya nang Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, isang organisasyun na ang misyun ay malinis at maayos na eleksyun. Alam naman natin kung anong eleksyun ang pinaiiral ng mga Ampatuan sa Maguindanao. Ang tawag nga doon bangko ng mga boto. Magdeposito ka lang ng cash, makukuha mo ang boto na gusto mo. Tanungin nyo si Gloria Arroyo at si Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Hindi na ako magtataka kung sa kahuli-hulihan, papalabasin ng mga abogado nina Ampatuan na ang 58 na namatay noong Nob. 23, 2009 sa Maguindanao ay nag-suicide.
At siyempre, kung nag mass suicide nga ang mga ito, walang kasalanan si Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. at ang kanyang ama na si Andal Sr., ang kanyang kapatid na si Zaldy, dating gubernador ng Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. Hindi malayo na maabswelto na sila.
Matunog ngayon ang usap-usapan na tumataginting na P200 milyon ang pinakawalan na naman daw ng mga Ampatuan at mukhang makamtan na rin ni Zaldy ang kaniyang kalayaan na binigay ni dating Justice Secretary Alberto Agra at naudlot lamang dahil sa lakas ng galit ng publiko. Ngunit habang tumatagal, dumadami ang isyu na pinagka-abalahan ng mga tao, baka makuha na niya kasama na rin ng kanyang ama. Si Andal Jr siguro matagal-tagal pa ngunit doon na rin ang direksyun nun.
The latest Pulse Asia survey showed that the Maguindanao massacre, where 58 persons were massacred by Andal Ampatuan, Jr. and his companions, one year ago, is in the consciousness of 98 percent of the Filipinos.
However, Pulse Asia said, less than half (48 percent) of those they surveyed last month said that they are following the developments of the trial.
Click here (VERA Files) for Carol Arguillas’ coverage of the commemoration in Mindanao. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was there.
Click here (VERA Files) for pictorial of the commemoration in Metro Manila.
Pulse Asia’s findings make the request of news organizations and relatives of the victims to allow live coverage of the trial compelling.
As the days wear on, with so many issues and problems cropping up, interest on the carnage that earned for the Philippines the dubious distinction of the world’s most dangerous place for journalists (32 of the victims were members of media), would wane. That would be a cause of concern because tyranny thrives when the people are not vigilant.
Update: Today at 2pm, photo-journalists will have their head shaved in front of the Department of Justice on Padre Faura st., to commemorate the darkest day not only in Philippine journalism one year ago.
Mangudadatu’s wife was supposed to file the certificate of candidacy of her husband against Ampatuan Jr for the position of governor.
From Ateneo School of Government:
From the Ateneo School of Government:To give way to the event in Maguindanao commemorating the Ampatuan Massacre where key policy actors will be attending, the public presentation of the PODER study on government response to election-related violence scheduled on 23 November 2010, 8:00am – 1:00pm, is postponed to a later date, which will soon be announced.
Fifty-seven bodies were recovered from the area which was turned into a mammoth graveyard by a backhoe that belonged to the provincial government. Of the 57, 31 were journalists, who were supposed to cover Mangudadatu’s filing of certificate of candidacy.
Fifty-eight actually were killed, 32 of them journalists. The body of Midland Review staff Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay , who was with the convoy, remains missing up to this day. Only his dentures were recovered from the killing site.
Ex-househelp said Ampatuans planned to surrender Andal Jr to Gloria Arroyo
Ampatuan gave millions in bribe to officials
by Ces Drilon
ABS-CBN
Saliao was an aide of Andal Ampatuan Sr..
Saliao testified that the Ampatuan family met twice before the massacre, where they discussed how to stop Esmael Mangudadatu from filing his certificate of candidacy for governor of Maguindanao.
Saliao said Ampatuan Sr. asked his family if they agreed with the plan to kill all the people in the Mangudadatu convoy. Saliao recalled that people laughed upon hearing the Ampatuan patriarch’s question, and then agreed to the plan.