I WAS only nine years old when the Maguindanao massacre, otherwise known as the Ampatuan massacre, happened on November 23, 2009. Around 58 people were killed, of whom 32 were journalists. The event made headlines not only nationally but internationally, but as a young child, I did not understand the gravity of what had happened.
On November 16, 2024, I joined the families and relatives of the victims in visiting the site where their loved ones were killed. Early in the morning of the same day, the families and relatives gathered in General Santos (GenSan) City and prepared to travel from GenSan to Maguindanao del Norte. A convoy of cars traveled the roads to the site. Along the way, the 90IB and 6ID escorted the convoy as we neared Maguindanao.
The entrance was already filled with houses, and domestic animals grazed on the grass. No one would suspect that atop that hill, behind the tranquil greenery of the place, one of the world’s "worst single-day murders of media workers and the worst cases of election-related violence" took place.
When we arrived at the site, the site marker had been overgrown with grass, and the covered court beside it was filled with leaves, rocks, and some corn cobs. The family immediately began clearing the area and enlisted the help of some locals to cut the grass around the markers. Once settled, the family set up the tarpaulin and prepared the table for the mass. A solemn mass took place, and some of the relatives of the victims shared how, all this time, they had been deprived of justice.
Once the mass was finished, the families went to the site marker, offered candles, and tied red ribbons to the markers with the message “Justice Now.” Some of the family members were emotional and cried, saying how much they missed their departed loved ones.
Similarly, Ronie “RonRon” Perante Jr., son of Ronie Perante Sr., a correspondent of Gold Star Daily, said that after 15 years of waiting for the case to be resolved, they are still seeking justice, especially for the children of the victims. He expressed hope for the day when the case would be solved and the government would fulfill its promises. During his message, he shared how difficult it was growing up without a father and how difficult it is to fight for justice since some family members have already passed away while justice remains elusive for them.
Perante said that many children of the victims were unable to finish their studies due to the lack of support and financial assistance, and most of them did not even reach their dreams.
“Isa lang naman ang gusto ng mga katulad ko, nang pamilya ang makamit lang talaga ang justice na hinihingi namin (There’s only one thing that I want, and most of the families here want, and that is to get the justice we are asking for),” he said.
After the mass, the convoy went to one of the cemeteries in GenSan where the remains of the 13 journalists were buried. A small prayer was said, and their tombs were blessed.
Rolie “RR” Morales, brother of Rosell Morales, one of the journalists from News Focus in GenSan who was killed in the massacre, revealed that until now, they have not been paid the damages and compensation that were promised to them by the government. This includes the P500,000 compensation and scholarships for the children of the victims.
“Sa akin pananaw hanging ngayon hindi parin namin nakakamit ang hustisya na para sa amin yung parang napag-iwanan na kami ng mga taong nasa sa umpisa lang sumusuporta. Nanawagan din kami kay gobernador Toto Mangunadatu na parang napag-iwanan na kami ng panahon (In my view, until now, we have not obtained the justice that is due for us. It’s as if we have been left behind by those who only supported us at the beginning. We also appealed to Governor Toto Mangudadatu, saying that it feels like we have been left behind by time),” he said.
“Patuloy pa rin kami lumalaban sa hustisya na sana makamit na naming at yung nanawagan din kami sa gobyerno na sana ibigay na ang kompensasyon na para sa amin na para at least man lang makatulong sa amin dahil nahihirapan din kami na nawala yung mga taong sumusuporta sa amin, hanggang ngayon nagugulila kami (We continue to fight for justice hoping that we can fully obtain it. And we are also calling on the government to grant us the compensation that is due for us so that at the least this could help us after our providers, whom we missed so much, have gone)” he continued.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has continued its campaign to help the families and relatives of the Maguindanao massacre victims. The organization has been monitoring the pace of the case, which has been very slow, and they have not received any updates from the lawyers handling the case.
Zoraida Eva Lim Mustaril, director for Mindanao of NUJP, said in a media interview that they do not have any updates on the case. She shared that 44 suspects were convicted in 2022, but 88 others remain at large. She said they would continue the fight for the victims of the massacre.
“So parang masyado siyang mabagal so hindi pa nakakamit, sabihin na natin, whole justice nitong mga biktima ng Ampatuan massacre (It’s moving too slowly, so we have not achieved full justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre),” she said.
Having witnessed firsthand how the families and relatives of the victims call for justice opened my eyes to the gravity of what happened 15 years ago and how it has affected multiple generations of the victims' families.
To recall, 58 persons were killed, of whom 32 were media workers, on November 23, 2009. It was estimated that about a hundred armed men, along with Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., stopped the convoy of Genalyn, the wife of former Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, who was traveling to Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, to file the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for her husband’s gubernatorial bid.
In 2019, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221 in Quezon City convicted the Ampatuan brothers — Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan — of 57 counts of murder and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua without parole. Andal Sr., the Ampatuan patriarch, died on July 17, 2015, due to advanced liver cancer.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, no single event has claimed as many journalists in the 18 years they have been compiling detailed records of killed journalists. Prior to this event, the deadliest killings of media personnel occurred in Iraq on October 12, 2006, when 11 employees of Al-Shaabiya television were killed in an attack at the station’s Baghdad studios. RGP