Atty. Salvador Panelo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
The relatives of the Ampatuan massacre victims on Thursday said presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte did not make the right choice in his presidential spokesperson.
“I am not comfortable. This is not right,” Mary Grace Morales said in a statement released by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
She is the wife of Rosell Morales, circulation manager of the community paper News Focus who died in the massacre.
READ: Maguindanao massacre: Victims’ kin losing hope / No justice yet for victims of Maguindanao carnage
The Duterte camp earlier announced that lawyer Salvador Panelo will serve as the incoming President’s spokesman and press secretary.
READ: Panelo says he’ll be sole spokesman of Duterte
Panelo represented Andal Ampatuan Jr., one of the suspects in the massacre, in court.
Morales said her husband’s case will not prosper with Panelo in Malacañang.
“While it is on record that Panelo withdrew as counsel for Andal Ampatuan Jr. in early December last year, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expresses serious misgivings about his potential appointment as presidential spokesman and its possible implications on the trial of those accused of what is acknowledged as the single deadliest attack on the press in history and one of the worst incidents of electoral violence in the country,” NUJP said.
The group said it recognizes the right of any accused to a defense but that they also share the fears of the relatives.
“We urge the incoming government not to let political considerations get in the way of ensuring justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre,” NUJP chairperson Ryan Rosauro said.
He said the group will closely monitor the incoming Duterte administration’s adherence to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press.
“This includes remaining vigilant about the progress of the trial of those accused of the single deadliest assault on media in history,” Rosauro said. TVJ/rga
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