Revisiting Masalay, Ampatuan on the 1st Year Anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre

A year ago, I had the chance to be at  site of the infamous Ampatuan massacre. It was a few days after the bodies of the victims have been cleared, yet, the stench of death still clung to the air and the general area as observed by the foreign forensic experts whom we were assisting. I don't have to see the littered bodies of the dead journalists, lawyers, the women of the Mangudadatu family and those other civilians who just happened to be in the convoy on that fateful day of November 23,2009 to not be able to imagine the terror and fear that the victims felt as they rode through the narrow road leading to the hill of Masalay to their deaths.

Standing at that hill, I can almost hear the terrified cries and pleas of the victims as they beg for their life as it feel on deaf ears. The barbarism and atrocity were beyond comprehension, yet, the massacre happened. That all too painful day happened. The crime was beyond our wild imaginings and it jerk us to a very harsh reality that we have "tolerated" these  massacres to happen to us for a very long time. For the longest time we have become too cowed with the culture of impunity imposed upon us by our leaders. It's not only in Maguindanao where warlordism prevail, where local leaders act as if they own the people, and who decide the fate and lives of their constituents on their hands.Our local leaders have become the little gods whose words have become the law in our areas.

There were dissents, and these dissents were clearly nipped in the bud early before they became widespread. Oppositions were also effectively neutralized. As what obviously happened in the Ampatuan massacre where fifty-eight (58) persons were killed.Of the 58, one person still remained missing which further magnify the grief of the concerned family.The Ampatuan clan's warlordism feat have surpassed all the records of other warlords in the country. So much so, that the Ampatuan massacre was considered as the gravest case in the Philippine history and have placed the Philippines as the number 1 most dangerous country for journalists. What a feat to accomplish in one day! It also awakened us from a deep slumber.Though sadly, it has to take 58 lives before we roused from our apathy.

As we mourned with the grieving families, we also echo their cry for justice. However, justice for the victims have remained elusive. Just like the continuing wish of the Momay family to recover the body of their father and to finally lay it to rest, the quest for justice have become an uphill struggle. With the deaths of their love-ones, the grieving families continued to face bribery, intimidation and even threats to their lives. All to make them weaken their resolve in pursuing justice for their dead loveones. Even the lawyers of the victims are not spared with these kind of treatment. Journalists who continue to vocally call for justice are also intimidated to silence.Witnesses are either bribed, intimidated and killed. Is there no hope in sight for the victims and their families...? Is there no hope in sight for every justice seeking citizen of this country...?





One year after, we hear the speeches. We see the re-enactment of events. We hear the stories of the families. Their eyes still become misty and their tears will soon dry. But the pain and anguished remained. And the thirst for justice will remain as fervent.

24 November 2010
2:33AM
Cotabato City, Mindanao
Philippines