Elusive justice
by Maria Khamine Kianah Amil, Kristina Noelle Andaya and Jenny de Venecia
Japeth Umpad is five months old, and he will never see his father again.
His father, UNTV cameraman McDelbert Arriola, was among the 37 journalists/media practitioners abducted and brutally murdered in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. McDelbert’s wife, Erlyn Umpad, had given birth to Japeth 10 days before the crime happened.
Five months after what is now known as the Ampatuan Massacre, Japeth, his mother Erlyn, and the families of the massacre victims are still crying for justice.
“Limang buwan na rin yung anak ko, wala pa rin kaming nakakamit na hustisya (My child is already five months and yet we still haven’t obtained justice),” Erlyn said in a rally last April 23. The rally commemorated the fifth month of the gruesome massacre.
Wearing black shirts and holding banners calling for justice, Erlyn and the members of other families marched from Morayta to Mendiola in Manila. Media groups led by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Malacañang Press Corps joined the families in the rally. Other press groups that joined included the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists.
Together with various press groups, the families decried the April 16 decision of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop multiple murder charges filed against suspended Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and acting Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan.
The Arroyo administration has not done much to punish the suspects, said Glenna Legarta, wife of Prontiera News reporter Bienvenido Legarta Jr.
“Now the DOJ is set to release the Ampatuans, claiming the suspects were not in the field of the crime,” she stated. She condemned Agra and demanded that he resign his post. “What a horror! Kaya Agra bumaba ka na sa posisyon mo kasi kauupo mo pa lang sa posisyon mo mali na agad ang desisyon mo. Ano kaya kung tatagal ka sa posisyon mo mas marami ka pang kabaluktutang gagawin” (What a horror! Agra, you should resign from your position because having been newly elected, you have already made a wrong decision. If you stay longer, you would make more mistakes),” she added.
Catherine Nu ñez, mother of UNTV reporter Victor Nuñez, demanded that Agra give them justice rather than clearing the two Ampatuans of the multiple murder charges. “Ginoong Agra, sana po, ‘wag mong ipagkait ang hustisya na hinihingi namin sa aming pamilyang namatay. Maawa ka sa amin. Tao ka rin, wag ka namang magpusong bato (Agra please don’t deny to us the justice that our family asks for our slain loved ones. Have pity on us. Don’t be stone-hearted).
“Ipataw mo ang dapat at karapat-dapat sa amin. Ipataw mo ang desisyon na makatarungan para naman magbago itong Pilipinas (Give us the justice we deserve. Serve us a just decision so that the Philippines will improve),” said Juliet Evardo, mother of UNTV video editor Jolito Evardo. She also asked Agra to look at the different sides of the case.
The victims’ families asked the cooperation of media to seek justice for the slain journalists. They urged the press to continue the fight with them. “Kaya kayong mga media hinahamon ko kayo, na ‘wag sana niyong [tigilan] ito. Kayo ang paraan para mag-ingay, para ilantad [ito] sa newspaper at TV (I am challenging the media to be the watchdog of this case. You will be the way for this to be broadcasted on newspapers and TV),” said Mary Jane Merisco, wife of Periodico Ini columnist Rey Merisco. “Kaya’t hinahamon ko kayo dahil nakasalalay din sa inyo ang hustisyang hinahanap namin (I challenge you (media) because we rely on you as we seek for justice),” she also added.
Media organizations show support
Former NUJP chair Inday Espina Verona also gave her message to Agra during the program, “Kung gusto niyong itigil ang pagpapatatalsik sa inyo, ibalik niyo po at bigyan ng hustisya ang pamilyang may mga tatay, may mga asawa at may mga kapatid at mga anak. (If you want the protests to stop, give justice to the families who have fathers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, and children).”
Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) President Paolo Romero and Press Secretary Cris Icban Jr. met the protesters at the Mendiola Bridge to give their support to the families of the victims of the massacre.
According to the MPC statement read by Paolo Romero, the brutal killings at Maguindanao violated human rights as well as the rights of every journalist. “Dahil sa Ampatuan Massacre hindi lamang ang pamamahayag ang nakitil, pati na rin ang pangarap ng pamilya ng mga biktima na wala namang hinangad kundi magkaroon ng maayos na pamumuhay. Nakitil ang karapatang pantao na dapat pinangangalagaan ng ating pamahalaan. (The Ampatuan Massacre not only killed press freedom but also the dreams of the families of the victims who only wanted to have a better life. Human rights that are meant to be protected by the government were also destroyed),” he said.
He added that the press corps supports the victims’ families in fighting this injustice. “Naapektuhan ang imahe ng ating bansa bilang sibilisadong bansa. Patuloy naming kinukundina ang kahindik-hindik na krimeng ito at kasama niyo kami sa paghahanap ng katarungan (The reputation of our country is affected by these killings. We condemn these heinous crimes and we are with you in seeking for justice),” he stated.
Paolo Romero, a reporter for The Philippine Star, said in an interview that they will help the family of the victims through the most effective tool which is reporting. He also added that it (reporting) can increase public awareness of the Maguindanao Massacre issue.
Press Secretary Cris Icban Jr. also joined the rally to show his sympathy with the victims’ kin. “Naniniwala ako na magkakaroon din ng hustisya sa inyong mga pamilya, inyong mga kamag-anak at sa mga namatay na kaibigan, at anak po natin at kapatid po natin at tatay natin. Huwag kayong mawalan ng pag-asa. (I believe that justice will be served to your families, your relatives, friends, children, siblings and our fathers. Don’t lose hope)”, he said in the program. Icban served as editor in chief of the Manila Bulletin, where Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, one of the journalists slain last Nov. 23, had worked.
The rally held in Mendiola was one of the 13 simultaneous events held around the country to remember the fifth month of the Maguindanao Massacre. Included in the provinces are Baguio, Bulacan, Pampanga, Iloilo, Bacolod, Kidapawan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Cebu. After the protests, the media people and victims’ kin lit candles. Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim was also present.
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[…] first, the print media, due to space limitations, never quite capture and report all of the proceedings; neither do broadcast media, due to time limitations. second, the slooooow pace is already “exacerbating the already super-high nationwide tensions over the mass murders.” let’s not worry about judge jocelyn solis-reyes — she’s doing a good job off-cam, i expect she’ll do a good job on-cam. as for witnesses being influenced by the testimony of other witnesses, surely each one has executed an affidavit beforehand, and testimony beyond such would not get past defense lawyers who would be very vigilant about calling public attention to anything like that. and, finally, a televised trial would not sap national energies, rather, a televised trial would ease the tensions generated by the 53 victims’ families’ woes exacerbated by the supreme court’s seeming indifference to their very valid grievances. […]
37 media workers? I believe its 32.
Dear Ron. This was reported in 2010. The initial list of journalists who joined the convoy was 37 thus the report. But it has been clarified after investigation that 32 were killed.