InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - Outlines of bodies of those who died in Maguindanao drawn on the roads with chalk along Recto Avenue in Manila served as the trail for some 1,000 media practitioners, civic groups, and students who on Wednesday sought justice for the 58 victims of the gruesome killings two years ago.
Walking on what they call the "Trail of Impunity" from the University of Sto. Tomas on España Boulevard in Sampaloc to the Mendiola Peace Arch, protesters commemorated the second anniversary of the November 23 crime, said to be the single deadliest event for journalists in history.
Various organizations assailed what they deemed as the slow-paced justice system in the country.
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility deputy director Luis Teodoro criticized the Aquino administration for its alleged lack of concern over journalist killings in the country.
According to Teodoro, the administration has failed to address the root cause of the problem because President Benigno Aquino III rejected the dismantling of private armies of political warlords like the Ampatuans.
“Today, Mr. Aquino seems to be as unconcerned over the killing of journalists in the Philippines as his predecessor despite the rest of the world being sufficiently alarmed,” Teodoro, reading the official statement of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP-CMC), said.
The massacre in Maguindanao's Ampatuan town resulted in the death of 58 people, including 32 journalists. The incident made the Philippines the deadliest place for media practitioners, next only to strife-torn Iraq.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan journalist Ranga Kalansooriya of the International Media Support, who was part of the international fact-finding mission that investigated the killings, promised that his group would help in seeking justice for their slain Filipino colleagues.
“The international community is with you to demand for justice…until the justice is brought, we will never let you down, and we will support you…we will be with you to fight for justice,” he said.
"All over the world, people are demanding in the streets and making this issue (Maguindanao Massacre) global," Kalansooriya added.
The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists dubbed November 23 as the “International Day to End Impunity”.
The culture of impunity refers to an absence of justice where perpetrators of murder can escape their crimes without fear of court prosecution.
‘Chilling effect’
UP-CMC dean Roland Tolentino said the Maguindanao Massacre had sent a “chilling effect” on the students of media in UP.
“Ang mga estudyante ay natatakot na kung ganito ba ang kahahantungan nila samedia (The students fear that the same thing will happen to them),” Tolentino said.
Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), represented by Atty. Jose Cabrera, urged Aquino to abolish all private armed groups in the country.
The IBP is also pushing for the speedy trial of the suspects in the killings.
“Ang sabi itong massacre na ito ay aabutan ng 100 years (to solve)…Dapat ire-revolutionize ang sistema ng paglilitis sa Pilipinas. Sa bagong sistema na ito…ang estimation na matapos…ay maaaring isa o dalawang taon,” said Cabrera.
[It will reportedly take 100 years for this massacre case to be resolved. We need to revolutionize the trial system in the Philippines. Under this system the trial could be finished in one to two years.]
Trials for the 196 suspects are currently conducted twice a week. Members of the Ampatuan clan, the political rival of the Mangudadatu family, are being tagged as the primary suspects in the massacre.
Teodoro fears that the massacre would become a precedent for other atrocities.
“Kapag hindi natapos ang trial ng Maguindanao massacre, lalong magkakaroon ngpagpatay sa lipunang Pilipino [If this trial is not resolved immediately, more killings will take place in Philippine society],” he said. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Emmanuel Louis Bacani and Marianne Salazar, special to InterAksyon.com
