Maguindanao massacre DVD sold in Davao

LIKE a constant reminder of the brutality of the Ampatuan massacre, DVD copies of video clips entitled "Maguindanao Massacre 11/23/09” is now available even in the city.

A look-see at DVD stalls here revealed the item has been available just around two weeks after the November 23, 2009 massacre.

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A DVD vendor along Boulevard, who refused to be named, said his copies came from Cagayan de Oro City.

From what he has seen of the video, the vendor said, the clips could have been taken by one of the Scene of the Crime Operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) since there were no civilians captured on video.

The film, which runs for more than four hours, covers the first two days of the retrieval operation by authorities in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town where 57 civilians were abducted and murdered, easily called the worst election-related crime in Philippine history.

The DVD features a hand-held video of authorities exhuming the bodies of the victims: disfigured, blood-soaked or blood-drained from the force of gunshots or from being run over by the backhoe.

Day One was a slow recovery of bodies as at least eight personnel from the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) used shovels in digging for the bodies. Later in the day, the authorities began exhuming the bodies using their bare hands.

Day Two began with the digging now aided by a backhoe. It was then that more bodies were exhumed. The deeper the exhumation, the more gruesome the bodies were found. The buried vehicles were also discovered on the second day.

Davao City Police Office (DCPO) City Director Senior Superintendent Ramon Apolinario said Monday the DCPO cannot stop the proliferation of the videos.

"I cannot comment or implement anything. I do not see any violation (on the selling of the DVDs)," Apolinario said since there are no clear copyright infringements.

Apolinario, however, said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Optical Media Board (OMB) are in a better position to comment on.

The video, however, will just prove the gravity of the crime.

"The video can be used as evidence for the people to watch it could be investigators themselves. I would be very much interested in that kung ako yung nagiimbistiga," Apolinario said.