MANILA, Philippines?It was mid-morning in Digos City and preparations for the burial of Napoleon Salaysay were under way when a relative informed the slain journalist?s widow that the glass of her husband?s coffin had just cracked.
?My husband is crying for justice,? Monet said on Friday while she was talking to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in one corner of the Salaysay house in Barangay Goma.
Her husband was among the 30 journalists and media workers massacred in Maguindanao province along with 27 other civilians.
Salaysay, editor of the Cotabato City-based Mindanao Gazette, was part of the convoy of journalists and members of the Mangudadatu family and their supporters held hostage by armed men allegedly led by Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. on Nov. 23 in Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town.
The victims?many of them women?were all unarmed and were on their way to the capital town of Shariff Aguak to file the certificate of candidacy of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for the gubernatorial race against a member of the Ampatuan family.
Most evil
?He is the most evil of all evils,? Monet said of Andal Jr., the main suspect in the massacre.
Salaysay?s bullet-riddled body and those of other members of the convoy were found strewn on a grassy hillside in the same town a few hours later. Other bodies were retrieved, along with at least three vehicles, from a pit dug up by a backhoe.
The mass killing was so gruesome?with most of the victims shot in the face?that it drew condemnation from across the globe.
Monet did not hide her anger. ?If I were to decide on his fate, I would have him burned at the stake,? she said.
The widow welcomed the filing of charges against Andal Jr., but said it was not enough for what he did to her husband and the other victims.
?I want to pour gasoline over his body and light him up,? Monet said, clenching her teeth.
Salaysay, 57, was laid to rest in a vacant lot near the family home in Sitio Napan late Friday, a day ahead of his scheduled burial.
Chief Insp. Anthony Padua, city police director, said the family decided to bury the journalist earlier because his corpse had started to deteriorate.
Salaysay left behind three children, including an 18-year-old son, a special child.
In General Santos City, Manila Bulletin reporter Bong Reblando?s body will be buried on Dec. 5, according to his family.
Mass burial
But the family of 10 other journalists killed in the carnage, whose bodies lie at a funeral parlor in General Santos, said they were still deciding on the date of the mass burial.
Support for the families of the slain journalists continues to flow in.
Aside from pledging to shoulder the expenses for the burial of the journalists, Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez said the provincial government would give P100,000 to the victims? families.
Businessmen in Sarangani also vowed to help, he said.
In Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province, black became the official color of newsrooms as the media community continued to grieve for their slain colleagues.
Black shirts
Malu Cadelina-Manar, president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chapter, said journalists had started wearing black shirts, ribbons and armbands to denounce the massacre.
?We are one in condemning the suspects and the mastermind of these gruesome killings. We also appeal to the government to prosecute the perpetrators to give justice to those who have died,? said Felsy Co, news correspondent of X-FM in Mlang, North Cotabato.
Bishop Romulo de la Cruz of the Diocese of Kidapawan celebrated Mass for the victims Sunday.
In Iligan City, journalists are not only mourning but also starting to train themselves on election reporting.
?After what happened in Maguindanao last week, we wanted to equip local journalists the necessary tools in covering the 2010 elections,? said Ryan Rosauro, executive director of the Peace and Conflict Journalists? Network.
NUJP-Iligan chapter president Richelieu Umel, who covers high-risk areas in northern Mindanao for the Inquirer like Rosauro, said the training was timely.
Evangelization
The killing of the journalists should not keep members of the media from fulfilling their job of providing information to the public, according to Monsignor Jose Palma, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Palo.
"My point here is that the horrendous crime (Maguindanao massacre) should not deter our media people from doing their job for they proclaim the truth just like any evangelization,? Palma said on Saturday.
He said media were doing a wonderful service in proclaiming the truth. ?But sometimes, we have to put ourselves in danger,? he added.
The archbishop said he could not help but feel outrage over the mass killing, purportedly carried out by politicians who professed to protect the people they served.
On Friday night, close to 60 media practitioners in Tacloban City gathered at the junction named after Ramon Noblejas, a radio broadcaster based in the city gunned down by still unidentified men 22 years ago. The journalists condemned the brutal murders of their colleagues in Maguindanao.
The next day, a Mass at Santo Nińo Church, led by its parish priest Benjamin Bacierra, was offered for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
March against impunity
On Monday, exactly a week after the massacre, press organizations and militant groups will march on the Don Chino Roces Monument in Manila to demand swift justice for the victims.
The ?March Against Impunity! March for Justice!? will be participated in by the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, the National Press Club, the NUJP, Karapatan, Gabriela, Solidarity Philippines, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Pagbabago and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. Reports from Orlando Dinoy, Aquiles Zonio, Williamor Magbanua and Cong Corrales, Inquirer Mindanao; Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas; and Nikko Dizon in Manila
