EXPLAINER | Quest for justice in the Maguindanao massacre case ends today

December 19, 2019 , 08:49 AM

DECEMBER 19, 2019 – The world on Thursday awaits a lower court judgement on the mass murders of a political clan and journalists in a southern Muslim province 10 years ago, the single most deadly politically-motivated killings in the country.

Families of 58 victims, including 32 journalists, two lawyers and six others who were not part of the group, are expecting a guilty verdict, said Esmael “Toto” Mangudadato, a congressman whose wife, sisters and other relatives were among those killed on November 23, 2009.

“We are praying and hoping for a guilty verdict 100 percent,” he told journalists on the eve of judgment day.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, presiding judge of the Quezon City Branch 221, will hand down a ruling after hearing the case for almost a decade, the worst election-related violence in Philippine history and single deadliest event for journalists in the world.

THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE

Fifty-eight persons were slaughtered in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province on November 23, 2009.

The victims included 32 community journalists and media workers, two lawyers, six motorists passing by, and the wife and sisters of Maguindanao 2nd District Representative Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, then vice mayor of Buluan town.

The victims were on their way to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Shariff Aguak to accompany the wife of Mangudadato who was supposed to file his candidacy for Maguindanao governor.

He was challenging the influential Ampatuan clan who are in power for years in the province: Andal Ampatuan Sr. was the governor of the province while Andal Jr., or Datu Unsay, was mayor of Ampatuan town. Another son was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also recognized the Ampatuans as important allies who had helped her win in a presidential re-election in 2004.

The convoy, however, was intercepted at a police checkpoint and diverted to a hilly part of the interior of Ampatuan town. They were all cut down by automatic gunfire and the killers tried to hide the crime by burying them, including their vehicles, in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman.

WHO ARE THE ACCUSED

The powerful Ampatuan clan was accused of orchestrating the massacre, with Datu Unsay accused of leading the killing himself.

A total of 197 people, including 52 police officers and dozens of militia members. They are all facing multiple murder charges.

Ninety-seven of the accused are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Tagig City while eight while died on trial, including the family patriarch, Datu Andal Sr. in July 2015.

Eleven are out on bail led by Ampatuan’s youngest son Sajid Islam who ran and won as mayor but was suspended due to graft cases.

Eighty-one, including Ampatuan grandson Bahnarin, are still at-large.

10-YEAR TRIAL

The hearings began on January 5, 2010 and ended in August this year. Families of the victims had expected an earlier ruling on the date of the massacre’s 10th year commemoration, but the Supreme Court granted Solis-Reyes’ request for more time due to “voluminous records” of the case.

The documents of the court case included 165 volumes of records on the trial, 65 records of stenographic notes, and eight records of the prosecution’s documentary evidence. The court also received the testimony of 357 witnesses.

For its part, the prosecution presented 134 witnesses who revealed that the Ampatuans planned the massacre as early as July 2009 and saw Datu Unsay participate in the killings.

The defense, meanwhile, forwarded several of Datu Unsay’s municipal officials who testified that he was in a meeting at the time of massacre, and two former prosecution witness who had recanted their testimonies.

Unsay’s lawyers also argued the prosecution failed to prove the mayir had fired a gun in the absence of any evidence, including fingerprints and ballistic tests

WHY IT MATTERS

The massacre has put the Philippines as one of the worst places for media men in the world.

For three years, the Philippines has the most unsolved murders of journalists based on the Global Impunity Index 2019 of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The country has been on the committee’s list for 11 years.

The victims’ families led by now Congressman Mangudadatu believe the court will hand down a favorable ruling today, confident of the evidence presented by the prosecution.

But Mangudadatu is also not discounting the possibility that justice won’t be served and perpetrators may get off scot-free.

“Kung anuman ‘yung pasya ng hukom bukas ay irerespeto ko. Pero tulad ng sabi ko, may batas tayo na dapat sundin,” he said yesterday.

“Basta ilalaban namin ito nang habambuhay, hahanapin namin ang totoong hustisya. Kasi hindi lang bukas ang katapusan ng laban. May Court of Appeals, may Supreme Court,” he added.

(Sources: PCIJ, CMFR)

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