A FULL two years after the Maguindanao massacre became the single worst slaying of journalists in the world, about half of the nearly 200 suspects have remained at large.
Leaders of the politically powerful Ampatuan clan and several of their lieutenants have been put on trial over the attack—an ambush of a convoy and the killing of at least 58 political opponents and the media workers who accompanied them. But the proceedings have moved at a snail’s pace, frustrating the relatives of the victims.
“We know it is not easy to get justice. We need to work for it, it is not voluntarily offered or easily obtained,” said Grace Morales, widow of journalist Rosell Morales and sister of another reporter-victim in the massacre, Marites Cablitas.
“The families need to act, to remain strong and to continue the fight,” she said in an interview. “It has been two years but we have not yet obtained full justice because not all of them have been detained and sentenced.”
The focus of the trial is Andal Ampatuan Sr., patriarch of the powerful clan in Maguindanao province, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and political ally of ex-President Arroyo.
The victims’ relatives blame Mrs. Arroyo for a culture of impunity in Mindanao and have filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she could have prevented the killings; she had condemned the massacre and denied any prior knowledge.
Mrs. Arroyo was arrested last week on charges of electoral fraud for allegedly instructing Ampatuan and an elections official to rig the results of 2007 congressional polls. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Even Malacañang is getting impatient; it urged the judge handling the case on Wednesday to speed up the trial so that justice may be served soonest.
In a news briefing, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that like others who are keeping a close watch on the trial, the Aquino administration is also concerned about the slow pace of the proceedings.
“On the part of the Executive branch, we would like to see the case, the judge of the trial court improve the pace of the Maguindanao trial,” Lacierda said.
But he also conceded that the case “is not entirely in the hands of the Executive or the prosecution; it is within the discretion of the trial judge, it is within the discretion of the judiciary.”
“We share the public’s concern that this case is taking so long. And we hope that the judiciary would take a second look at the pace of the Maguindanao trial so that justice may be obtained within the administration of President Aquino,” Lacierda said.
He declined to comment on the move of the group of lawyer Harry Roque to file a civil case against Mrs. Arroyo for alleged complicity in the massacre. “We’ll leave it with the courts to determine the culpability of the former President in the Maguindanao massacre,” he said.
Suspects still at large
Ampatuan is among 96 suspects in custody being tried on murder charges, together with his sons, other relatives and former government-armed militiamen under his wing. They have pleaded not guilty.
Still at large are 100 other suspects, including former soldiers, policemen and civilian militia linked to the Ampatuans. They are all believed to be hiding in Mindanao.
Lacierda said the National Police has not stopped operations for their arrest. The police are “exerting every effort to locate the respondents who have not been arrested,” he said.
Foreign governments are also watching the case closely.
US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. said the United States welcomes President Aquino’s pledge to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The prosecution of this case is seen by many around the world as demonstrative of the Philippines’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights,” Thomas said in a statement.
Canadian Ambassador Christopher Thornley said the massacre was not only an act of violence but also an affront to human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of expression and the right to free and fair elections that both Filipinos and Canadians stand to protect and defend.
“While understanding the process to bring those responsible to justice continues, Canada calls on the government of the Philippines to ensure the process be completed in a timely and credible manner,” Thornley said.
Gunmen allegedly led by Andal Ampatuan Jr., a former town mayor, stopped members of the Mangudadatu clan, the Ampatuans’ political rivals, as they traveled to file for candidacy in the regional elections. They were led to a hilltop clearing, gunned down and hastily buried in mass graves, alongside their vehicles that were crushed by a backhoe.
“This case underscores what happens when people have full control and absolute power then abuse it,” Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said during a ceremony on Wednesday at the massacre site. “They were so brazen and thought nothing could stop them in their time.”
The dead included at least 31 media workers covering the Mangudadatus, making it the worst-ever single massacre of journalists. The charge sheet lists 57 victims but the body of journalist Reynaldo Momay, who was also part of the convoy, was never found.
Bombs found in site
Still-mourning relatives led by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, who lost his wife and sisters in the massacre, lit candles, offered flowers and released doves during the ceremony at the mound where concrete markers bearing the names of dead were erected.
On Wednesday two homemade bombs, fashioned out of 81mm-mortar round and 105 Howitzer ammunition, which were all disarmed by Army ordinance experts, were found in the area leading to the site of the massacre.
Based on the reports that Camp Crame received, Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., said the first bomb, assembled from a mortar round, was found at about 5:35 a.m. along the national road in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, along with disintegrated parts of a two-way radio, circuit diagram, two improvised electric blasting caps and one 9-volt battery.
An hour later, the second bomb, which was made of the Howitzer ammunition, was also found near Camp Imam Malang of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Col. Leopoldo Galon, Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman, said both bombs were safely detonated. The bombs were signatures of rogue members of the MILF and that this was an attempt to disrupt the commemoration, he said.
Nearly four hours later, a fragmentation grenade was also found by policemen at the public market of Buluan town, the bailiwick of the Mangudadatu family.
Mangudadatu said earlier on Wednesday he would scrap a visit to the massacre site in Ampatuan town—named for the powerful clan—after authorities defused at least two bombs nearby. But he later changed his mind and decided to attend.
Robredo said he assured relatives of the victims that the government would do all it can to give them justice and punish all the suspects. But while the government has taken steps to hasten the prosecution, it has suffered delays because of numerous legal tactics by the suspects’ lawyers in a judiciary notorious for a huge number of backlog cases.
“We guaranteed them that under this administration, there would no longer be such warlords because no government will support them,” Robredo said. “As we were traveling back to the airport from the massacre site, I saw along the way that only the police and troops were bearing guns.”
The trial opened last year in a specially built courtroom inside a maximum-security prison, where the judge is hearing the case twice a week.
Even from behind bars, the Ampatuans still wield influence and instill fear.
Reynafe Momay-Castillo, the daughter of the undeclared 58th victim, said the suspects’ emissaries were offering money to some relatives in exchange for dropping the case. Amnesty International also has quoted other relatives with similar allegations.
“I don’t feel safe going to work,” said Momay-Castillo, a nurse. “We are fighting so many things, not just fighting for justice. We are confronted with the realities of life that go with what happened to our loved ones. The problem is our enemy has so much money.”
