The Negros Press Club yesterday called on President Benigno Aquino III and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to help ensure a fair, just and speedy resolution of the Maguindanao Massacre trial five years after the gruesome bloodbath that took the lives of 58 people, 32 of whom were journalists.

About 50 members of the media and Mass Communication students from the University of St La Salle and the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos joined the NPC candle-lighting rites at the steps of the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City to mark the 5th year of the massacre.

The candles forming the word JUSTICE stressed the call of the participants for government action.

“It is a fact that for five years now, the wheels of justice have apparently taken a slow pace in this most heinous of crimes, officially acknowledged as the single deadliest attack on the press in history,” NPC president Carla Cañet said at the candle-lighting rites.

This delay is to the detriment of the victims and their families, she said.

She noted that of the 32 from the media killed in the massacre, two were from Negros Occidental - Bart Maravilla of Bombo Radyo, and Henry Araneta of the Manila Broadcasting Company.

Negrense human rights lawyer Connie Brizuela was also among those killed.

The Ampatuans, who were charged for killing and burying their victims along with their vehicles in a mass grave, should be penalized according to the full force of the law, Cañet added.

The convoy was on its way to file the election candidacy of a local rival of the Ampatuan clan, when it was allegedly waylaid by the family's private militia, led by Andal Ampatuan Jr., son of local strongman Andal Ampatuan Sr.

The Ampatuans deny all charges against them.

Cañet also called for vigilance against any attempt to muzzle the press and curtail freedom of expression.

Former NPC president and Visayan DAILY STAR columnist Modesto Saonoy, who led the prayer for the massacre victims, said the death of 32 media colleagues is an example of the risk journalists face as they practice their profession in the name of freedom.

“Freedom requires courage, if you have no courage you have no right to be free. We must always fight to remain free,” he said.

Veteran broadcaster Fred Sapa said we should be angry that, until now, justice has not been attained for the victims of the massacre, noting that some witnesses have already been killed or scared off.

Justice must be attained, the killing of journalists must stop, he said.

“I am in solidarity with your cause to seek justice for those who died in the Maguindanao Massacre. The media should also remain firm and vigilant in doing its function as member of the Fourth Estate,” was the message of Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., delivered for him by his executive assistant, Eric Loretizo.

President Aquino "is filled with determination that his administration will complete the unfinished work of achieving justice,” presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma said yesterday.

The President had challenged the Justice Department to convict "at least the principal accused" before he steps down in 2016, Coloma said.

Reforms were being undertaken to speed up legal processes, Coloma added, stressing “our people will not accept the slow turning of the wheel of justice.”*CPG

back to top