Battling the scourge of impunity

by Jude Sulit

Almost three years after the gruesome mass murder that killed 58 people in Maguindanao, justice continues to elude the victims and their families, culture of impunity persists and widespread killing of journalists further increases.  

Was it not for the fact that the majority of the victims were media people, the case against the Ampatuans might not have reached the courts. Out of the reported number of fatalities, 33 and not 32 (including the 58^th) were members of media.

The figure somehow concretized the idea that the massacre is considered to be the worst single attack on journalists in the world and that the Philippines, in reality, is one of the most dangerous places for mediamen.

According to some reports, there are 153 cases of media killings in the country since the fall of Marcos’ dictatorship in 1986; out of which, only 10 people have been convicted. Indeed, after 26 years, there are still at least 140 stagnant cases that needed to be resolved.

Moreover, the victim’s families and friends have received death threats and witnesses have been killed, perhaps to delay the practical administration of justice. Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife was also included in the mass murder, said at least six of their relatives have been killed since the trial began in September 2010.

It is quite ironic that even though witnesses to the 2009 massacre were placed under state protection in line with the killing of other witnesses and that, according to the justice department, they were also provided with security which is already tightened up; the pervasiveness of slaying them still persists.

Some witnesses, while they continue their fight for justice, also started to flee outside the country since the death threats would not definitely silence them.

This merely implies that the Philippine government, while they brag their so-called “effort” to speed up the delivery of justice, failed to provide the victims’ kin absolute protection and above all else, unsuccessful to render justice for the 58 lives claimed by the massacre.

It does not help the victims’ families either the admittance of the Philippine National Police saying that they are having a very rough time finding the suspects who remain at large. What saddens the most is that the fugitives, who conducted their selves as if they were beyond the reach of the law, were being protected by their clans and communities.

At the same time, the most recent addition to the list of victims of the Ampatuan massacre also serves as a reminder that, while at least 195 suspects are involved in the slaughter, only 96 have been apprehended and only 76 accused. So far, only two of the Ampatuans have been arraigned in court-Andal Sr. and Andal Ampatual Jr.

Photojournalist Reynaldo Momay of General Santos City was reported among those who died in the mass execution though his body was never recovered. Various evidences were presented to prove that Momay was certainly included in the convoy that the private army of the Ampatuans captured. Though dentures found in the massacre site have been identified as Momay’s by the person who made it, his remains are still missing which means that the conclusion for the case, in spite of everything, is beyond reach.

The manhunt on the fugitives might in fact a difficult and complex responsibility for those who handle the case but it is already a matter of justice and with the fact that the third anniversary of the massacre, which is on November 23, is approaching near, the government must amplify and strengthen their efforts to expedite the administration of justice-which can only be achieved by hunting down every single one of the suspects.

Over this glacial pace of the case, the victims’ families are necessarily becoming more despondent and disappointed mainly on how the current administration, which promised to take concrete steps to end the impunity not just in media killings but cases of carnage in general, act in contradiction to their vow. It is as well a very agonizing thought that while members of the Ampatuan clan and other suspects enjoy the benefits of freedom, the families of the victims are still gripping on their grief and patiently waiting for justice.

Still, the best way to help the families move on would be to speed up the manhunt and trial of all those involved in the slaughter as quickly as possible.

It is also imperative to mark that the odds of stopping the continuous expansion of the culture of impunity are emerging ever bigger with the unabated killing of journalists. The cases of media killings in the country, which are constantly increasing somehow, signify the death of truth and freedom.

Media, with its watchdog function, serves as the public’s eye on the three equal branches of the government. It is possible to conclude that one of the factors why there is an increasing trend in killing journalists is the media’s extensive knowledge on the different facets of the government including its hidden political and egotistical agendas. The massacre is one whole big attestation to it-the Ampatuans considered to be former President Arroyo’s cronies in establishing broad scope of governmental power.

Viewed from this perspective, the massacre, on the whole, provided pieces of evidence that Philippines which should be a democratic country is not egalitarian at all: the purpose of serving the nation is far next to political power, the freedom of media, a significant factor in society is being repressed, the elected leaders do not hold on to their responsibilities as well as gratitude to the people, and most of all, the bullets are more powerful than the ballots.