by VERA Files When Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey of Ghana in the ring on Sunday (Saturday in the U.S.) in Texas…
Making life worth living.
by VERA Files When Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey of Ghana in the ring on Sunday (Saturday in the U.S.) in Texas…
by VERA Files Even in detention, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao continues to issue orders to kill those he suspects…
Hindi nasama sa report ng Al Jazeera ang parte ng sinabi ni “Jesse” , ang hitman ng mga Ampatuan na ngayon ay gustong mag- state witness, ang parte kung saan sinabi niya kung gaano kadikit ang mga Ampatuan kay Gloria Arroyo.
Humihingi si Jesse ng proteksyun dahil sabi niya kapag makalaya sina Ampatuan, patay siya. Sabi niya, “Hindi lang siya mapera. Malapit kay Gloria. Kapag pumunta si GMA sa Maguindanao sa bahay ng mga Ampatuan, ang tawag ni Andal Ampatuan Jr, mayor ng bayan ng Datu Unsay sa kanya ay, “Ina”. Ang tawag naman ni Arroyo kay Andal Senior ay, “Ama”.
Close talaga sila, ano.
Itong si Jesse ay bodyguard ni Datu Kanor, pinsan at best matalik na kaibigan ni mayor Andal Jr na ang palayaw ay “Unsay”, pangalan ng bayan kung saan siya ang mayor. Kasama siya doon sa masaker at sinabi niyang nambaril din siya. Hindi niya alam kung ilan ang napatay niya.
A man who says he took part in last November’s massacre in Maguindanao province has told Al Jazeera how he now fears he too will be killed as the alleged mastermind of the killings seeks to silence potential witnesses against him.
In an exclusive interview, the man known as “Jesse” told how he had been ordered to kill a witness, and he now fears he will be next after the head of a powerful clan placed a bounty on his life.
“[Datu Unsay] gave the order for me to kill this one guy who could have been a witness against them,” he said.
“I did it. If I didn’t do as told, they would kill me.”
Last Feb. 3, the relatives of 13 journalists killed in the Nov. 23 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao filed a suit with the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights to hold accountable the Arroyo government for the carnage that murdered at least 57 people, 30 of them journalists.
The rationale for the charge, which was done with the assistance of CenterLaw Philippines, is simple and easily understandable: All of those responsible for the carnage are agents of the Philippine State.
Harry Roque of CenterLaw yesterday disclosed that Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera (who is supposed not to be holding that position since she filed her certificate of candidacy last Nov. 30) is pressuring the kin of 13 journalists who filed the suit with the AICHR not to pursue it.
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…
Kapag panahon ng Pasko, madalas sabihin magpapatawad at magbati tayo sa ating mga naka-away.
Medyo mahirap gawin yan kay Gloria Arroyo at sa kanyang mga kampon kasama na doon ang pamilyang Ampatuan. Paano ka naman magpapatawad kung wala ka namang nakitang pagsisisi?
Tinitingnan ko sa TV si Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. noong dinala siya sa Department of Justice para sa preliminary hearing at parang maluwag ang turnilyo nito. Duwag pala itong halimaw na ito. Nang hiniwalay siya sa kanyang abogado, nagmamaka-awa siyang, “Atty, huwag mo akong iwan.”
Ito ang taong walang- awang nagpatay ng 57 na taong walang kasalanan sa kanya. Hindi siya sinagi, hindi siya sinaktan. Ngunit basta lang niya pinagbabaril na parang mga manok.
Habang pinapanood ko ang interview ni Anthony Taberna kay “Abdul” ( hindi niya totoong pangalan) ang lalaking nagsabi na sampung taon pa lang siya ng kinuha siya at tinuruan ng mga Ampatuan pumatay, na-alaala ko ang “Blood Diamonds”. Di ba doon sa pelikula, hinanap nina Leonardo di Caprio at ang tatay ng bata ang kampo kung saan sinasanay ang mga bata magiging killer. Meron palang ganoong kampo sina Ampatauan sa bundok ng barangay Upi sa Maguindanao.