Relatives of 13 journalists slain in the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao filed on Tuesday a landmark suit before the newly established ASEAN Intergovernmental…
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Category: Maguindanao massacre
by Benjamin S. Luis VERA Files They thought by now, nearly two months after their loved ones perished in the country’s worst pre-election violence in…
by Mylah Reyes Roque VERA Files Their husbands were close friends but their wives did not know one another. The Ampatuan massacre changed that. When…
Today, widows of slain journalists in the Ampatuan Maguindanao massacre filed their opposition to Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton’s promotion as Vice-Commander of the Philippine Army with the Commission on Appointments.
Those who trooped to the Senate, where the CA deliberations were being held, were the widows and family members of the following slain journalists: Alejandro Reblando, Joel Parcon, McDelbert Arriola, Julito Evardo, Bienvenido Legarta, Lindo Lupogan, Robert Momay, Victor Nunez, Napoleon Salaysay, and Daniel Tianzon Cayton, then commander of the 6th Infantry, denied the request of Buluan vice mayor Toto Mangudadatu for security escorts in his filing of the certificate of candidacy last Nov. 23. That refusal enabled the Ampatuans to massacre at least 57 persons, 30 of them journalists.
Cayton was relieved of his post after the massacre, which happened a stone’s throw away from a military detachment. But he was promoted to Philippine Army vice commander. The widows are appalled.
The international outrage generated by last month’s massacre in Maguindanao of 57 men and women, half of them journalists, may offer opportunities to make progress…
Kung kailan nagsabi ng totoo itong si Lorelei Fajardo, saka siya natigbak.
Ayun sa balita, tinanggal si Fajardo dahil sa kanyang sinabi noong, Nov. 25, tatlong araw pagkatapos nangyari ang karumal-dumal na krimen sa Maguindanao kung saan 57 na tao ang namatay sa masaker na ang suspetsa ay kagagawan ng pamilyang Ampatuan.
Ito kasi ang sinabi ni Fajardo: “I don’t think the President’s friendship with the Ampatuans will be severed. Just because they’re in this situation doesn’t mean we will already turn our backs on them.” ( Sa isip ko, hindi masisira ang pagkakaibigan ng Pangulo sa mga Ampatuan. Porke’t nalagay sila sa ganitong sitwasyun, ay tatalikuran na sila.”)
Related stories from ABS-CBN: I killed hundreds for Ampatuans – ex-child assassin
Ampatuan Jr waves right to answer murder charges
Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was harassed by a handful of Filipino journalists when he arrived Friday afternoon at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the preliminary investigation into the mass murder of 57 people in Maguindanao province last month.
Ampatuan Jr. arrived shortly before 1:30 p.m. at the DOJ compound on board a bulletproof van. He came out of the van handcuffed and clad in a bulletproof vest.
Before Ampatuan Jr. entered the DOJ building, he was harassed by some members of the National Press Club (NPC). The journalists were holding several pictures of the bodies taken from the massacre site in Ampatuan town.
Marlon Purificacion, a reporter of People’s Journal, threw pictures into Ampatuan Jr.’s face. The journalist said their protest is a show of support and sympathy for the 57 families of the massacre victims, which includes 30 journalists.
Ampatuan Jr. has been charged with 25 counts of murder for the massacre. Several witnesses have testified he took part in the killings.
Senators urge SC to protect Reyes
Refuses PNP security; ‘It’s just another case’
by Angela Lopez de Leon
Malaya
The multiple murder case against Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. will be heard by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City RTC Branch 221.
The case was re-raffled yesterday after QC RTC Judge Luisito Cortez filed a notice for inhibition Tuesday, citing heavy case load and concerns for the safety of his family, among others.
The re-raffle was presided by acting Executive Judge Fernando Sagun.
The Center for International Law (CenterLaw) and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) led yesterday the launching of a broad united legal front to press for justice for the victims Ampatuan massacre and to counter a perceived whitewash in the multiple murder cases against the suspects now being handled by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Called the Tactical Alliance of Lawyers Against Impunity in Maguindanao (TALIM), the coalition also noted with trepidation moves by some politicians to offer legal assistance to victims’ families.
Organizers of TALIM (literally, a knife’s sharp edge in English) said they seek to put a stop to the current overlapping and incoherent efforts to assist the victims’ families in their quest for justice.
Here are two articles by Carol Arquillas of Mindanews:
Capitol of second poorest province has jacuzzi
Click here (Mindanews) for the rest of the article and more photos.
The Ampatuans’ mansions and millions””We have vast landholdings”, says daughter
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao (MindaNews/11 December) – The man who owns the mansion on the right side of the highway from Cotabato City, that one with the mosque, is the governor of the country’s second poorest province while the man who owns the mansion on the left side is his son, the governor of the country’s poorest region.