Journalists continue to hope for justice nine years after Maguindanao Massacre

Nov. 23, 2009 marks the nine years since the Maguindanao Massacre, which has claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers.

Journalists hold tarpaulins calling for the conviction of the three primary accused in the case, Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Sajid and Andal Ampatuan Jr.

National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) Secretary General Dabet Panelo said getting a conviction is crucial for the media community especially now when the institution of journalism itself is being “discredited” and “attacked.” She also said it “will serve as a lesson” that those who commit such crimes will be held accountable and will be go down in history for what they did.

Public interest on the matter has dwindled in the past nine years, but Panelo said all the more they should continue to hold such commemorations.

A tarpaulin bears the face of Sajid Ampatuan, one of the primary accused in the Maguindanao Massacre, with “CONVICT AMPATUAN” written across it in bold red letters.

Journalists and media workers light candles to remember their colleagues who were brutally killed in the name of duty.

Media workers align their candles in a nine formation to signify the nine years since the Maguindanao Massacre, which is considered the single deadliest attack on journalists.

Advocates pose for a photo with their “CONVICT AMPATUAN” posters to end the candle lighting activity.

The candles are left to burn at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani.

Candles were lit once again last Friday at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani to mark the unrelenting quest for justice for the victims in one of the darkest periods in the country’s history.

Nov. 23, 2009 was the day 58 people, 32 of them media workers, were gunned down in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. The mediamen were accompanying Genalyn T. Mangudadatu, wife of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, then Buluan town vice mayor, who was filling her husband’s certificate of candidacy for governor for the 2010 elections.

The perpetrators of the massacre, led by Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., whom Mangudadatu was challenging for the the gubernatorial position, tried to cover up their gruesome act by burying the victims with the use of a government-issued backhoe.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called the Maguindanao massacre as the single deadliest event for journalists in history and put the Philippines among the list of dangerous places for members of media.

Nine years later, justice for the victims and their families has yet to be served. Out of the 197 accused, 80 remain at large. Some of the alleged perpetrators have already died, including Andal Ampatuan Sr., head of the Ampatuan clan.

The prayer of everybody who held the lighted candles Friday was not only that justice be served soonest for the victims but also for the people not to forget.