ShareThisAquino vows justice
for massacre victims
MANILA (PhilAmPress) — President Benigno S. Aquino III has decided not lift the state of emergency in Maguidanao imposed by the previous administration following the massacre of 58 people, 32 of them media workers, on November 23, 2009.
President Aquino said that based on the assessment made by the authorities, there is still a need to maintain the state of emergency in the province of Maguindanao because the government wanted the people of Maguindanao to feel at ease and at peace.
Relatives of the 57 people killed in the massacre on November 23, 2009 offer flowers and candles during a memorial service as part of the national day of remembrance declared by Presiden Benigno Aquino at the massacre site in Ampatuan, Maguindanao province on the southern island of Mindanao on November 23, 2010.The Philippines on November 23 mourned the one-year anniversary of the country's worst political massacre amid pleas for justice and fears of attacks by the clan blamed for the murders. AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE (Photo credit should read TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images)
Aquino, who wore a black armband during the first year anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, disclosed that the law enforcers are still searching for illegal firearms in the province and pursuing the remaining suspects in the Maguindanao massacre.
On December 5 last year, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed the entire province of Maguindanao under martial law after the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre. But Mrs. Arroyo lifted the martial law a few days after but still placed the province under the state of emergency.
The President also assured the families of the massacre victims that his administration is doing all it can to achieve justice for the victims.
“Tuluy-tuloy pa po yung pagtutugis, hinahanap dito yung mga akusado (The pursuit of the suspects is continuous),” Aquino stressed during a news conference in Laguna.
The chief executive declared Nov. 23 as a national day of remembrance for the victims of Maguindanao massacre on Monday.
Fifty-seven bodies — 25 civilians and 32 media practitioners — were found on a grassy hilltop in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. The body of the supposed 58th victim — that of Tacurong City-based Midland Review photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebong” Momay — remains unaccounted for.
The victims were in a convoy on their way to file the candidacy of then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu when they were flagged down by several armed men and brought to a grassy hilltop in Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town.
President Aquino also called for a live coverage of the trial of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre even as he vowed that justice will be served to the victims of the killings.
“It is one of the top priorities of the Justice Department. We will not rest until justice has been served,” Mr. Aquino said.
Mr. Aquino offered his condolences to the families of the victims and assured them that he will “do everything in our power to achieve a timely resolution of this case and ensure that this does not happen again.”
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife, Jenalyn, was among those killed in the massacre, meanwhile, appealed for a speedy prosecution of the culprits, among them Andal Ampatuan, Jr., his supposed rival in the May 10 gubernatorial race in the province.
Mangudadatu said he wants all of the suspects in the massacre that are still on the run placed behind bars.
About 113 of the 196 people accused in the crime remained at large and have been wanted by laws.
In marking the first anniversary of the massacre, relatives of slain journalists took turns in expressing their grief and cried for justice to their loved ones as local officials, journalists from various parts of the country offered prayers.
A year after the massacre, the case is yet to be resolved. Former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., his sons – former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Anmpatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have been detained. Andal Anmpatuan Jr. is being tried and charged with several counts of murder.