‘We hope President Aquino is sincere in his promise’

MANILA, Philippines–She wanted to be a journalist like her father. But her mother persuaded her not to pursue a career in journalism.

Marieta Tiamzon took mass communication during her first year in college but later shifted to a business management course.

Marieta, 19, is the daughter of the late journalist Daniel Tiamzon who was among the 32 journalists killed in the Maguinadanao massacre in 2009, the worst election-related violence in Philippine history and the worst recorded attack on journalists in the world.

Editha, Daniel’s wife, told INQUIRER.net that she encouraged her daughter to choose a different career because she feared her daughter might suffer the same fate as her husband’s.

“The wound is still fresh. I am afraid for my daughter if she pursues a career in media,” Tiamzon said in an interview during the candle-lighting ceremony at the Edsa Shrine on Sunday.

She said she was dismayed that five years after the massacre, none of the  primary suspects, the Ampatuans,  have been convicted.

“It (justice) is slow,” she said.

She, however, remains hopeful, saying President Aquino had “promised us that before he steps down from office, we will get justice.”

But the 54-year old widow is alarmed by the recent killings of key witnesses in the massacre.

“It’s frightening. I sympathized with the family of the slain witnesses. They only wanted to help but they were killed,” she said.

But despite this, she and other families of the victims are hopeful that justice will be served before Aquino’s term expires in 2016.

“I hope that in 2016, justice will be given to us,” she said.

“Kahit yung mga mastermind lang masaya na kami. Alam naman namin yung mga accessories eh wala ring magawa kasi malakas yung mga Ampatuan,” she said.

Evasive justice

Marc Lino Abila, National President of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), one of the hundreds who attended the candle-lighting, also lamented the slow-paced justice in the Ampatuan massacre.

“It’s disappointing and enraging,” Abila said citing the public should not forget the November 2009 massacre.

“We are sincere in our call for justice and we hope that President Aquino is also sincere in his promise to give justice to the victims of the Ampatuan massacre,” he added.

Abila also lamented the killing of a key witness in the trial days before the massacre’s fifth anniversary.

He said the slain of the witness is another drawback in the quest for justice.

A former student journalist, he also cited that oppression also exists in the campus press.

He urged Aquino to give importance to the Ampatuan massacre and the oppression happening among campus journalists.

Despite the threat among journalists, he assured that they would remain vigilant on the case as he asked the public not to forget the single deadliest massacre of journalists in history to make sure the suspects would be convicted.

58 dead, 5 years, zero justice

Local and foreign journalists, students, and media advocates gathered at the historic Edsa Shrine on Sunday night for candle-lighting to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre, which killed 58 people including 32 journalists.

A digital wall was set up with the images of the 32 slain journalists and media practitioners who were brutally killed during the massacre.

People wore black shirts with the words “Stop Killing Journalists” and “End Impunity” to show their indignation for media killings and press restrictions in the Philippines.

The silent candle lighting ceremony was held to remember the 58 slain individuals and to illuminate the dark and evasive justice on the Ampatuan massacre.