text and photos by
Cong B. Corrales
JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA WORKERS held a photo exhibit, ecumenical prayer and candle-lighting ceremony on Thursday (May 23) in New Manila, Quezon City to remember the victims of the grisly Ampatuan Massacre that shocked the world 42 months ago, and remind the nation of the continuing reign of the culture of impunity in the country.
The travelling exhibit dubbed “Never Forget: The Ampatuan Massacre” opened in the morning at the National Cathedral of St. Mary and St. John, 277 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City. This travelling exhibit includes photographs of Jes Aznar, Nonoy Espina, and Veejay Villafranca, Vincent Go, among others. The exhibit shows how the nation moves forward from the gruesome murder that exposes how impunity works at its worst. Never Forget has been displayed in schools, churches, and government institutions such as the Congress and Senate.
Media groups led by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), as well as journalists from different media outfits, capped off the whole-day memorial with an ecumenical prayer, a short program and a candle-lighting for the victims of impunity.
In her speech during the program, Rowena Paraan, NUJP national chairperson said that while the media community continues to remember the the victims of the massacre, journalists and media workers across the nation should also fight against the continued culture of impunity under the Aquino administration.
“Why must PNoy wait for 2016? He must do what he can to stop this culture of impunity now,” said Paraan.
For her part, Edith Tiamzon—wife of Ampatuan Massacre victim Daniel, a UNTV cameraman—expressed her gratitude for the media community’s continued support.
“Kahit na parang hindi umuusad ang kaso, nagpapasalamat ako sa suporta ninyo. Nagbibigay ito ng lakas ng loob magpatuloy hanggang makamit natin ang hustiya,” Tiamzon told journalists and media workers.
Forty-two months ago, police and militiamen supposedly led by Andal Ampatuan Jr. waylaid a convoy that was supposed to file the candidacy papers of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. The incident on November 23, 2009 led to the death of 58 people, including 32 journalists, and has since been known as the worst case of election-related violence in recent years. The massacre has also been known as the single most brazen attack against journalists and media workers.
The Ampatuan massacre has earned the country the dubious role of being the international poster cover of impunity. The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Network (IFEX)—a federation of 90 independent organizations worldwide—has declared every 23rd of November, as the International Day to End Impunity.
Forty-two months since the massacre, 99 of the 196 accused are still at large. Exacerbating this is the snail-paced trials brought about by 750 pleadings (motions, manifestations, petitions, comments) filed; 540 of which are filed by the defense panel. There are still 103 of the 307 motions filed by both the defense and prosecution have yet to be resolved by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221. One of the witnesses have been killed and another one allegedly committed suicide.
In its latest special report on Impunity Index, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has ranked the Philippines third worst in the world. Worse, the country ranked third for the fourth consecutive year. War-torn Iraq and Somalia ranked first and second, respectively.
The country’s impunity index rating this year is “0.580 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants.” Last year, CPJ also ranked the Philippines third worst in the world with a rating of 0.589.
“Despite President Benigno Aquino III’s vow to reverse impunity in journalist murders, the Philippines ranked third worst worldwide for the fourth consecutive year. Fifty-five journalist murders have gone unsolved in the past decade,” the May 2, 2013 special report of CPJ entitled “Getting away with murder,” reads in part. The CPJ—founded in 1981—is an independent, non-profit organization that advocates for “press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.”
Published yearly, CPJ’s Impunity Index special report monitors “countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.” The 2013 Impunity Index report covers media killings which have remained unsolved from January 1, 2003 to December 31 last year. CPJ’s report this year lists 12 countries since they listed only countries with five or more unsolved cases. The group considers a case unsolved “when no convictions have been won.”
The CPJ report has identified the government’s inability to secure the witnesses of media killings as its foremost obstacle in ending the culture of impunity in the country.
“The insecurity of witnesses is a key problem in addressing impunity. Authorities in the Philippines, ranked third worst on CPJ’s index, have yet to make headway in the prosecution of dozens of suspects in a politically motivated massacre in Maguindanao province that claimed the lives of more than 50 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, in 2009. Three witnesses in the Maguindanao case have themselves been murdered, one of them dismembered and mutilated,” the report reads.