GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—The cry of enraged family members filled the humid air at the mass funeral wake here of 10 of the journalists killed in the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao.

Nearly a week since the carnage, wailing widows, children, and other relatives still could not fathom why their loved ones met such a tragic fate.

“They are monsters; they deserve to be put to death," said Maura Montaño, 69, mother of Saksi Mindanaoan publisher Marife “Neneng” Montaño, referring to the killers. "Let them die the way they killed my daughter.”

Surrounded by grieving family members, Maura, who was seated at a table with a pile of Marife’s mementos, glanced at the Inquirer’s front-page photo of the suspect, Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao.

“You deserve to die,” she added, in tears.

“He looks like a monster to me,” Marife’s 16-year-old son Jaether, said.

Maura said she knew of the dangers that her only daughter Marife faced in her profession but she understood that she loved writing in addition to having to make make both ends meet.

“Whenever she left home, I never failed to mention: Stop the madness, Marife. Many journalists have already been killed; I don’t want you to be like them,” Maura said.

She recalled that Marife, a veteran broadcaster who recently shifted to print, would only nod but she persevered in doing what she did best—reporting important and significant events.

Among these was the filing by Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu of Buluan, Maguindanao, of his certificate of candidacy for governor of the province.

“My daughter’s death story is for the books,” Maura said. “The world will never forget it.”

Brenda Acma, Socsargen Today reporter Lea Dalmacio’s sister, said they were deeply disturbed by the killings.

Glancing at the 10 coffins lined up alongside her sister’s inside the funeral parlor, Acma said: “We call on the government to prosecute the perpetrators, fast.”

The other coffins were those of Ian Subang, Socsargen Today; Gina De la Cruz, Saksi News; Maritess Cablitas, News Focus; Rosell Morales, News Focus; Mark Gilbert "Mac-Mac" Arriola, UNTV; Ronie Perante, Gold Star Daily; Benjie Adolfo, Gold Star Daily; Rubello Bataluna, Gold Star Daily; and Montaño.

The victims’ families said many sectors have called the slain journalists heroes of the present time.

“How did my daughter become a hero when she’s already dead?” Maura asked.

Along with the uncertainty of how soon they can expect justice, the victims’ family members said they were also not sure when their mass burial will be held.

But they agreed that while the victims are not interred, the sight of the 10 coffins painted in plain white, would always remind them of how dangerous a journalist’s work could be.