Maguindanao massacre: Verdict draws mixed feelings among victims’ families

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—-June Colleen Maravilla, 24, took a leave from her work at the South Cotabato provincial jail on Thursday to witness the live coverage of the promulgation of the Quezon City regional trial court’s ruling on the Nov. 23, 2019 Maguindanao massacre.

The eldest in a brood of five, Maravilla lost her father Bart, a reporter of Bombo Radyo, in the grisly incident that claimed 58 lives, 32 of whom were media workers.

“There are strong pieces of evidence against the principal accused Ampatuans yet it still took this long for justice to be rendered,” Maravilla said.

Some 100 family members of slain media workers gathered at the Saint Paul of the Cross Novitiate for a morning prayer service before watching the live feed from Camp Bagong Diwa.

The children and other kin of the slain media workers wore black shirts printed with the words, “It’s been 10 years. Do not let the story die with them #fightfor58. Ampatuan massacre”

Maravilla was only 14 years old when the massacre stole away their father who single-handedly looked after them as their mother was working abroad then. Her youngest sibling then was three years old.

She remembered their family’s hardship of being forced to leave their home in Koronadal City for relatives in the Visayas after being threatened with harm.

Maravilla recalled that the threats came after their mother Ivy refused bribe offers in the millions of pesos, allegedly from the Ampatuan camp, to withdraw from the case.

“If we accepted the bribe offer, we will not be here today to witness the promulgation with our fellow orphans,” she proudly said.

Happy over Ampatuan conviction

While the families welcomed the verdict, most said they would have been happier had more Ampatuans been convicted for the crime.

Among others, the court found Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town, and brother Zaldy, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, guilty for 57 counts of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole.

“We are happy on the conviction of the key suspects … but sad that Sajid was acquitted,” said Ronie Perante Jr., son of slain Mindanao Gold Star Daily correspondent Ronie Perante.

Sajid Ampatuan, who did not attend the promulgation, was vice governor of Maguindanao at the time of the massacre. He is now mayor of Shariff Saydona Mustapha town.

“I am happy the major suspects were convicted, but it’s hard to accept that others were acquitted… all the 197 suspects should have been convicted,” said Xhandi Morales, daughter of Russel Morales of News Focus.

Forty-three suspects were found guilty while 56 others were acquitted. Of the 43, 28 were convicted of reclusion perpetua (40 years sentence) without parole and 15 others sentenced to six to 10 years as accessories to the crime.

Xhandi said she could not forgive those who perpetrated the brutal murders even if they have been found guilty.

“Kung gusto nila makuha ang pagpatawad, paghirapan nila. Mahirap ang magpatawad, pero hindi kami magpabaon sa galit,” she stressed.

(If they want forgiveness, they must work for it. It’s hard to forgive although we also would not want to drown in anger.)

Sad day of Reynaldo Momay family

Reynafe Castillo, daughter of slain news photographer Reynaldo Momay, said it was a sad day for her and her family.

The court acquitted all the accused for the death of Momay whose body has yet to be found.

Although Momay’s body was not found in the massacre site, some of his personal belongings like a press ID and a jacket were recovered there, along with his denture.

His legal cause was belatedly filed in 2012.

In Maguindanao, many residents of Shariff Saydona Mustapha town erupted in jubilation after learning that Sajid, their current municipal mayor, was acquitted.

Sajid has earlier secured temporary liberty by posting P11.6 million bail.

Saydona Mustapha town is among the bailiwicks that the remnants of the once powerful Ampatuan clan continue to have political control.

Manot Untal, a passenger van driver and resident of Shariff Aguak, hopes that the verdict puts closure to the long-drawn out case, and give a fresh start for the province.

“Sana matahimik na…sana hindi lahat ng mga Ampatuan ay husgahan dahil marami ring matinong Ampatuan,” Untal said.

(Hopefully there is peace… Hopefully not all Ampatuans are prejudged as bad because there are many of them who are good.)

For others in Maguindanao, the verdict on the massacre 10 years ago is a form of comeuppance for the Ampatuan clan’s barbaric ways while its members were still in power and held sway in the province.

Habal-habal driver Musa Notma, in his 30s, recalled how, a decade ago, the private army of the powerful Ampatuan clan harassed his family in Tapikan, a small farming village in Shariff Aguak town.

“They burned (my) relatives’ homes. The reason? They wanted to get our small land,” he told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

Notma said he was expecting a guilty verdict against the Ampatuans who masterminded and led the 2009 slaughter of 58 people in the hills of Masalay in Ampatuan town.

“Deep inside, I know (that) … justice is ours,” Notma said.

Notma’s outspokenness was not common among townsfolk a decade ago. This town, which used to be Maguindanao’s provincial capital during the Ampatuan reign, is the clan’s stronghold.

Once named Maganoy, the town hosts the gated posh residences of the clan’s major personalities, and also of their henchmen, not far from the province’s lavish seat of power.

“They deserve (it) if the court rules against them. During their time, they killed a lot of people,” said 35-year-old fish vendor Tayan Mustafa, a day before the verdict.

The Nov. 23 slaughter came about because then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu refused to give up the aspiration to bag Maguindanao’s gubernatorial seat during the 2010 polls, pitting him against the namesake of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., Andal Jr., also known as Datu Unsay.

Based on the testimony of various witnesses, the decision to kill Mangudadatu was firmed up four months before the incident. But on that fateful day, Mangudadatu only sent his wife and relatives to file his gubernatorial candidacy at the Provincial Election Office here.

The killed media workers were part of the Mangudadatu convoy, out to cover a historic unfolding of events in the conflict-rocked province.

The victims were waylaid at the national highway, brought to Masalay hills, massacred, and then their bodies dumped in hastily dug common graves.

The massacre was the worst election-related violence in the country’s history and the deadliest attack on the press.

Datu Unsay was there to oversee the execution of the clan’s plot.