JOURNALISTS, STUDENTS, and human rights advocates laid 153 mock coffins at the doorstep of Malacanang Palace on the third anniversary of the worst case of election violence in the country that had killed 58 people, including 32 mediamen.
Each of the mock coffins represents a mediaman killed in the line of duty since press freedom was restored in the Philippines in 1986, supposedly making the country the freest and most democratic society in asia, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)
The coffins were laid along Mendiola bridge to commemorate the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, an event that sealed the country’s reputation as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. More importantly the coffins are meant as a reminder to President Benigno S. Aquino III that his government has not done enough to solve the problem of impunity in the country.
On November 23, 2009, a convoy bearing supporters of then Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu and accompanied by mediamen, was stopped allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan along the national highway. The convoy was on the way to the Maguindanao capital, Shariff Aguak, in order to file Mangudadatu’s election papers.
The convoy was then diverted to a remote hilltop two kilometers from the main highway, where 58 members of the convoy were murdered. Some of the bodies were dumped into open pits, along with their crushed vehicles.
On the third anniversary of the massacre, concerned media groups read a unity statement assailing the slow pace of the case, and Malacanang’s apparent disinterest in moving the case forward. Furthermore, concerns have also been raised over the support given by both the administration and opposition parties to Ampatuan family members who have filed the certificates of candidacies for the 2013 elections. At least 72 Ampatuans are running in the 2012 elections, 34 of them belonging to the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and another 9 belonging to the Liberal Party.
Media organizations also reminded President Benigno S. Aquino III of his commitment to seek reforms in the rules of court in order to help speed up the prosecution of the case. Aquino was also reminded of his promise to crack down on loose firearms and on private armed groups in the country.
The marchers gathered at the Welcome rotunda in Quezon City, and then marched in a procession to historic Mendiola to lay the coffins on the bridge leading the Malacanang. The 153 mock coffins took up the entire lane of the bridge, testament to the huge number of mediamen killed since the freedom of the press was restored after the Edsa revolution.
