Category: General

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 killed 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers.

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 the 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 its way to the Maguindanao capital, Shariff Aguak, 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 issued a unity statement assailing the slow pace of the case, and Malacanang’s apparent disinterest in moving the case forward. The groups also decried the support given by both the administration and opposition parties to Ampatuan family members who have filed their certificates of candidacies for the May 2013 elections. At least 72 Ampatuans are running in next year’s balloting, 34 of them under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), nine others, under President Aquino’s 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 President was also reminded of his pledge to strengthen the Witness Protection Program, and form quick-reaction teams to investigate and prosecute media murder cases.

*At least 14 (mediamen) had been murdered during the administration of Mr. Aquino,” said the unity statement read by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s Executive Director Malou Mangahas. “Of the total cases, only 10 cases have won partial convictions. No mastermind has ever been brought to trial.”

Moreover, the media groups lamented the President’s apparent fondness for proposals to curtail press freedom. The groups cited the President’s seeming refusal to push the Freedom of Information bill through Congress, even as he has voiced his preference for the Right of Reply bill and signed into law the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

“Aside from the killings, Mr Aquino has consistently exhibited a penchant for proposals to curtail press freedom and freedom of expression.”

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 journalists killed since press freedom was restored, following the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolt.

 

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.

 

THE UNITED NATIONALIST ALLIANCE (UNA), a political coalition of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Laban ng Pilipino (PDP-LABAN) and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), has firmly denied a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism that it has endorsed at least 34 candidates bearing the Ampatuan name in the 2013 local elections.

UNA Secretary General Toby TIangco made the statement on the 3rd anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre, where 58 people including 32 journalists were murdered allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan.

TIangco stressed that as Secretary General, he has not come across any certificate of nomination and acceptance of any member of the Ampatuan clan.

However, when told by the PCIJ that the PCIJ report Ampatuan Jr sells 8 big properties; 72 Ampatuans running in 2013 was based on a list furnished by the Commission on Elections, Tiangco said that it was possible that the Ampatuans in question were endorsed by their member-parties, the PDP-Laban or the PMP, and not by the coalition itself.

When the PCIJ reminded him that the UNA is precisely just a coalition of the PDP-Laban and the PMP, and that both parties were listed by the Comelec as having endorsed Ampatuan family members, Tiangco replied that there were some decisions made by the parties in the local level that were not approved at the coalition level.

“It’s very complicated in the local level,” Tiangco said in a phone conversation with the PCIJ.

The PCIJ report, based on the reports filed by municipal and provincial election officers based on the certificates of candidacy filed by those running in next year’s elections, showed a slew of candidates bearing the last or middle name Ampatuan under the banners of either the ruling Liberal Party, or the opposition coalition UNA.

The Comelec list showed that 34 Ampatuans were running under parties that make up the UNA coalition: 18 under the PDP-Laban and 16 under the PMP.

Another 9 Ampatuans were running under the Liberal Party of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The report has caused an outcry among human rights groups and families of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

On Thursday Liberal Party chairman Franklin Drilon said he will have the endorsement of any member of the Ampatuan clan revoked by his party.

Tiangco said he will check with their member parties if they have in fact endorsed Ampatuans at the local level. Tiangco however said that the UNA will not revoke an endorsement of any Ampatuan just on the basis of the name.

In fact, Tiangco said, UNA will not revoke any endorsement of an Ampatuan even if he or she is the spouse of one of the accused in the massacre. The PCIJ report showed that the wives of principal suspect Zaldy Ampatuan and Andal Ampatuan Jr were running for a second term under the PDP-Laban.

Tiangco said they will only revoke an endorsement if that Ampatuan was directly involved or implicated in the massacre.

 

MARY GRACE MORALES lost two loved ones in the Maguindanao Massacre of Nov.23, 2009: her husband Rosell, a reporter for News Focus, and her sister Marites Cablitas, a reporter of radio DxBX.

Grace and family members of the 32 media workers who died in the massacre are complainants in the multiple murder case now pending before a Quezon City trial court against members of the powerful Ampatuan clan.

Of the 196 suspects, only 95 are now in detention (of which only 76 had been arraigned), and over a hundred others remain at large.

The massacre left over 80 children, the majority still in school, orphaned by father or mother who were media workers, and primary breadwinners of their families.

Last week in Bangkok, Grace spoke before members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

What follows are her words, and fervent appeal:

“I am Mary Grace Morales. A mother of three children aged 13, 11, and 8.
“On November 23, 2009, I lost my husband Rosell. My children lost, at their very young age, their loving and responsible father. I also lost my sister Marites Cablitas.

“My sister and my husband were among the 58 persons killed in the Ampatuan Massacre. They were among the 32 journalists who were covering the filing of candidacy of a political leader in the area named Esmael Mangudadatu. On the way to the Election Commission office, they were stopped by more than a hundred armed men and taken to a hill where two pits had already been dug using a backhoe.

“All 58 persons in the convoy were brutally murdered. Some of the bodies were buried in the pits, together with three of the eight vehicles they rode.

“When I heard about the massacre aired on different radio stations, at first I could not believe it was true. I took my children with me to the house of my sister because I did not want them to know what had happened.

“The massacre has caused excruciating pain and dilemma. At first, I was in denial. I could not accept what had happened. Losing two persons close to me in that massacre is really hard.

“But I knew I had to be strong and keep my wits intact – to be able to take care of my family, as well as to fight whoever was behind the brutal massacre.

“Many of the families of the victims find it difficult to sustain any kind of livelihood. Most of those who died were breadwinners, and those they left behind are ordinary housewives with no work experience.

One is a 67-year-old grandmother who suddenly found herself saddled with six grandchildren to feed.

Another is a young wife who was six months pregnant at the time of the massacre and who is, until now, afraid of what will happen to the future of her three children.

There are so many children still struggling to live after the loss of their parents.

“Together with the other victims’ families, we filed a case against the perpetrators of this brutal and barbaric act. We want those responsible to pay for their crime.

“I cannot understand, however, why, until now, the masterminds have not yet been convicted, almost three years after the incident. In fact, most of them have not even been arraigned yet. Almost half of the 196 accused have not been arrested.

“While it appears that the Philippine government is trying to help us reach a speedy solution of the case, I still feel extremely frustrated. Just recently, the Supreme Court reversed its decision and disallowed the live media coverage of the trial.

“Our enemy is very powerful. Many members of their clan continue to hold government positions. We, the families of the victims, are nobodies against the powerful Ampatuans.

“We do not have the resources to fight them. Every legal move entails money. And campaigning to keep public awareness of the issue high also entails expenses. We are grateful for the assistance that we have received from groups like the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists and the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines.

“By bringing the issue to you, the international community, we are hoping that you can help us find justice. We believe that the international media community can help by taking a more comprehensive action and continue to give strength to the families of the victims of the Ampatuan massacre, of other extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.

“November 23 is the International Day to End Impunity. I come to you with a plea from my heart, bringing to you the cries of our children on the sudden loss of their loved ones, our loved ones, who had bright plans for the future but were curtailed by the bullets of the Ampatuans.

“We cry for justice. Your support gives us hope. Your prayers keep us strong.” – PCIJ, November 2012

IF ANDAL AMPATUAN SR. and his sons ruled Maguindanao as if they owned the province, perhaps it was because they really owned a sizeable chunk of it – and parts of Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Davao City, and Makati City as well.

Andal Sr. and his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan, officials who hail from one of the poorest provinces in the country, own close to five million square meters of property scattered throughout Maguindanao, Cotabato, Davao, and even in ritzy Dasmariñas Village in Makati, according to records in the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 22, where there is a pending civil forfeiture case against the Ampatuan properties.

If that figure is a little difficult to imagine for Filipino families who make do with 20 to 40 square meters of floor area, think in terms of this: Five million square meters is the equivalent of five square kilometers or 500 hectares of land.

By comparison, San Juan City in Metro Manila, according to the local government’s website, is all of 5.5 square kilometers, or just slightly bigger than the Ampatuans’ combined real property assets.

Overall, it’s not a bad deal for a family that claims to just live off the land. Andal Sr., after all, styles himself as a simple farmer, albeit one of royal lineage because of his datu heritage.

But if government prosecutors are to be believed, Andal Ampatuan Sr. may have gone a little too far in finding a patch of soil to plant his crops.

Last December, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), a government superbody tasked with investigating suspicious bank transactions and money laundering activities, secured a provisional asset preservation order (PAPO) or a freeze order against all the known Ampatuan properties from the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 22.

The PAPO covers 224 bank accounts, 77 vehicles, 110 firearms, and 161 pieces of real properties allegedly owned or controlled by Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s branch of the clan. The PAPO, granted by Executive Judge Marino dela Cruz, prohibits the sale, transfer, or disposition of these properties while his court hears the civil forfeiture case filed by the AMLC against the Ampatuan clan’s assets.

The 161 pieces of real property ordered frozen by the court altogether come up to 5,002,656 square meters of land owned mostly by the three Ampatuan principals along with a few of their associates. The list of frozen real properties gives us a glimpse of just how extensive the economic clout of the clan has become, reaching far beyond the boundaries of Maguindanao province.

And by all indications, this is just the initial list, as the AMLC has hinted that it is still looking for more documents that would link other suspected properties to the Ampatuan clan. And the sad fact is, the government, three years after the Maguindanao Massacre, has yet to finish its inventory of the assets of the Ampatuans.

Part 2 and Sidebar 2 of our report are now online.