Grief, rage, quest for justice fill Ampatuan site

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao -- Families and friends revisited on Tuesday Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in this town, where at least 57 people were massacred a year ago in the country's worst election-related violence.

Turned into a ghost-town after the brutal manslaughter, the more than five-kilometer dirt road from the national highway on Tuesday teemed with vehicles and more than 3,000 people from diverse sectors to pay respects to the victims, disturbing the eerie silence of the massacre site.more

Tribunal defers decision on live coverage petitions

MANILA - The Supreme Court deferred its action on requests to allow live media coverage of the trial of the Maguindanao massacre case and to designate a special court to solely hear the litigations.

On Tuesday, Court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the magistrates decided to consolidate the separate petitions filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), broadcast networks ABS-CBN and GMA, National Press Club (NPC), and the Alyansa ng mga Filipinong Mamamahayag. more

Lawyers union eye int'l remedies to secure justice for massacre victims
Dabawenyos remember Ampatuan massacre
Aquino: State of emergency in Maguindanao stays
Hundreds commemorate Maguindanao massacre

Pooled Editorial
One year after: concerns about the trial, questions on massacre

IT is not on an optimistic note that the nation remembers the Maguindanao massacre a year ago today, in which 57 people,
including at least 30 media workers, were slaughtered and then buried in graveyard.

There are causes of concern, even anxiety, over what could be the trial of the century:

* Delays. With 200 accused and 500 witnesses, tons of evidence, and the delays inherent in the process and those induced by overzealous lawyers, the trial that is expected to go all the way to Supreme Court could take ages.

A hundred years, a senator said, a prediction not totally exaggerated.

The courts are clogged with cases, many of them also high-profile, and the principal accused Ampatuans are affluent and powerful political warlords who can set up all sorts of delays. more

 

Timeline

November 23, 2009

Around 9:30 a.m.: Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Ishmael “Toto” Mangudadatu called and inform him that an armed group flagged down their convoy on their way to Shariff Aguak.

Genalyn, accompanied by supporters and journalists, lead a convoy headed for Shariff Aguak, capital town of Maguindanao, to file her husband's certificate of candidacy at the Comelec provincial office.

Around 11:00 a.m.: Reports were out that some 100 heavily armed men abducted at least 40 people, including the wife and sister of a town vice mayor in Maguindanao, his lawyers, supporters, and local media practitioners.

Government authorities were alerted of the incident and launched a search and rescue operation for the hostages.

Around 11:30 a.m.: Mangudadatu received very disturbing reports that six of the more than 40 passengers of the convoy were already beheaded by the armed men.

Around 3 p.m.: Soldiers reached the crime scene and found 22 unburied bodies. In a shallow grave in Barangay Dikalungan in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, 35 bodies were retrieved together with three vehicles.

November 24, 2009

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed Maguindanao, as well as Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City under state of emergency and ordered the PNP, AFP, NBI, andCHR to investigate the abduction and killing of the victims.
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More than 1,000 security forces were already deployed to Maguindanao as of Tuesday to help restore peace and order in the province.

November 25, 2009

Three members of the powerful Ampatuan clan were expelled from the administration party (Lakas-Kampi) following the massacre in Maguindanao that left at least 57 people dead.
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Police named Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. as the prime suspect in the poll-related massacre of at least 60 people, including the wife and two sisters of Buluan town Vice Mayor Ishmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who called the Ampatuans as "monsters".

November 26, 2009

Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. turned himself in amid mounting pressure on the government to crack down on lawlessness and warlords.
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Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was turned over to Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and Secretary Jesus Dureza for inquest. He was officially charged for the mass murder. Devanadera presided over the inquest proceedings against Ampatuan led by Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno and the investigating panel led by Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera III.
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Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., in his detention cell, told reporters that the mass murder was the handiwork of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader Ameril Umbra Kato.

November 27, 2009

Eight more members of the Ampatuan clan were also considered suspects in the Maguindanao massacre as more witnesses surfaced to testify against the family.

The eight other Ampatuans who were tagged to the massacre are Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Nords Ampatuan, Maguindanao Acting Vice Governor Akmad Ampatuan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Bahnarian Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan Sr.

November 28, 2009

The justice department denied placing the Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. under hospital arrest, while the government placed several other suspects under the immigration’s watchlist.

Other developments

Ampatuan mansion attacked
Ampatuan Jr. ‘not entitled’ to post bail
Ampatuan Sr. implicated in Maguindanao massacre
Maguindanao violence continues
Palace mulls extending control in Maguindanao
High Court orders transfer of rebellion case vs Ampatuans
Massacre witness also linked to killings
Ampatuan lawyer attempts to discredit Mangudadatu
Ampatuan Sr. rejects trial in Manila
Ampatuans fail to stop case transfer
Another witness tags Ampatuans in massacre
Mediamen remember massacred colleagues
Ampatuan lawyer faces contempt rap
Ampatuan murder trial suspended anew
Justice office to rule on Ampatuan petitions
Culture of gun, violence evident in clan members
Justice chief reverses massacre ruling
Trial venue of Ampatuan case moved
Ampatuan Jr. moved to Taguig facility
Families mark 11th month of Maguindanao massacre
Arroyo delisted as massacre witness
Ampatuan murder raps junked 'in exchange for aid'
Remembering, learning

Columns

Editorial: The First Davao Media Freedom Day
Cabaero: Cebu and trial of journalists’ killers
Covington: Fear
Marfori: Ampao and Ampatuan
Cabaero: A year after the massacre
Seares: What if massacre trial would be unjust?
Wenceslao: Mangudadatu’s damning testimony
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