Maguindanao massacre victim seeks P16-M in damages vs Ampatuans

MANILA,Philippines — The wife of one of the victims in the Maguindanao massacre is claiming at least P16 million in damages for the death of her husband.

Cipriana Gatchalian, wife of Santos Gatchalian Jr., testified about the suffering that her family endured after her husband was killed last Nov. 23, 2009 allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan, considered an ally of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and considered the most powerful family in Maguindanao.

“I miss his company. We talk about growing old together at our coffee farm. Now it is abandoned. My four daughters will grow and I will be left alone,” she said.

Gatchalian’s P16.1-million claim is broken down as: P5-million exemplary damages, P10 million moral damages, unearned income of P1million and actual damages of P100,000.

Her husband, Santos Gatchalian Jr., was a correspondent for MetroGazette, a weekly paper based in Davao earning P5,000 a month. He was on of the 58 victims and one of 30 or so journalists killed.

“He was a doting husband and father,” said Gatchalian.

“He was a healthy man and he died like that,” she added.

Gatchalian identified documents to prove her relationship to the victim such as marriage certificate, birth certificates of their daughters, death certificates, as well as actual receipts for burial expenses to support claim for actual damages.

For the exemplary damages, she said she’s asking for at least P5-million.

“This is to show how important journalists are and that they should not be killed,” she said.

The defense counsels no longer conducted cross examinations of the witness.