Suspicious-looking men ask about massacre victims’ kin

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Fear continues to hound families of the journalists killed in the Maguindanao massacre as they continue to perceive threats to their security such as unidentified men asking neighbors about their whereabouts.

JB Deveza, national safety coordinator of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said Catherine Nuñez, mother of slain UNTV cameraman Victor Nuñez,  reported that suspicious-looking men had gone to her neighborhood in General Santos City on the evening of Oct. 12 and asked where she was.

It was the fourth incident involving Nuñez, the most vocal of the victims’ kin, since the massacre took place on Nov. 29, 2009.

Deveza said that for still unknown reasons, Nuñez was informed of the latest incident only last Monday.

According to Deveza neighbors told Nuñez that four men on two motorcycles went around her neighborhood last Friday night, asking for directions to her home or her workplace. Nuñez said neighbors told her the men were not Visayan as they struggled to speak the dialect.

Deveza said what was alarming was that the men had a picture of her with them this time.

Failing to find Nuñez, the men lef,t  along with more men in a white Nissan Navarra pickup truck who had followed to motorcycle-riding men to Nuñez’s neighborhood.

In August, the wife of another Maguindanao massacre victim also reported a similar incident.

Grace Salamanca Morales, wife of slain journalist Rosell Morales,  reported that unidentified men came to their house in General Santos City and asked where she was.

A member of the Salamanca family said they took down a shingle  above the family’s store for security reasons after the incident.

Edwin Espejo, chair of the NUJP chapter in General Santos City, has appealed for more vigilance not only on the part of the massacre victims’ families but also members of the media.