The November 23 Maguindanao massacre have shaken many of us. I was in a place with the only access to the outside world is through a 2-channel television when the news of the carnage broke out. Thus, the magnitude of the incident only sinks in the next day when I read it on the papers. A colleague had to make a trip to the City to buy the papers. Scanning the news, a victim’s name from the media caught my attention. A chill ran through me, it was one of our Council of Peoples’ Representatives from the Bagobo tribe, Mr. Napoleon Salaysay, from a local community paper in Cotabato City. I did not have the chance to get to know him fully, but I feel a deep sadness, not only for him but also for the rest of the massacre victims and their grieving families. Like other ordinary citizen, I also felt outraged with the callousness and impunity shown by the perpetrators.
When the call from Atty. Harry Roque of CenterLaw Philippines came that his organization is planning to bring in forensic experts to help in the investigation, I did not have second thoughts in agreeing to have our organization, the Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM) in hosting the forensic team that will be coming to Cotabato City. CenterLaw Philippines’ mandate is to uphold the freedom of expression. With majority of the victims of the Nov.23 Maguindanao massacre media people, their organization deemed it imperative to give support to the investigation through the provision of foreign forensic experts. They will be working with the Commission on Human Rights, which will also be conducting a parallel investigation. For our part, our organization have been advocating for the respect and protection of human rights at all times, thus, we would also like to contribute in our own little way in the seeking of justice for the victims of the massacre. On another note, my other organization, the Mindanao Tri-people Women Forum, has been advocating to end all forms of Gender Violence, and is strongly condemning the death of the civilian women, two of them pregnant, and now calling for justice for the said victims.
In the six (6) days that I spent with the forensic team, these were my daily accounts:
November 29, 2009: Arrival, Press Briefing and Installation of the Forensic Team at the Grave site; Briefing by the SOCO ARMM
Today, Atty. Harry Roque and associates, Atty. Joel Butuyan and Atty. Gilbert Andres arrived in Cotabato City with the foreign forensic investigators: Dr. Jose Pablo Baraybar of the Equipo Peruano de Antroplogia Forense (EPAF) of Peru and Christopher Stewart Geoffrey Cobb-Smith from the United Kingdom. Following an hour later is the Chair of the Commission of Human Rights (CHR), Atty. Leila de Lima.
There was a Press briefing at the Restaurant of the Estosan Garden Hotel prior to the establishment of the forensic team at the gravesite. Only ABS-CBN came for the briefing with GMA coming in late and heading straight for the airport to interview Chair de Lima. The other media personnel were in Shariff Aguak covering the rally of Ampatuan’s supporters while others did not come, as they were still security conscious after the massacre took place.
Colonel Jonathan Ponce, the spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division lead the military escorts in securing the safety of Chair Leila de Lima and her team as well as that of the forensic team. A few minutes after Chair de Lima’s arrival, she signaled for the teams to proceed to Maguindanao to the gravesite, thus, at around 3PM, the convoy, composed of two vehicles for the CHR team and two for the forensic team with two 6x6 military trucks and a simba tank left Cotabato City. Heavy concentration of military troops greeted our convoy starting Datu Saudi Ampatuan municipality. This got heavier as we entered Shariff Aguak, especially in front of the Provincial Capitol and the mansions of Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., and that of Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan. We also passed by remnants of supporters holding placards that staged a rally earlier in front of Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr’s residence. Military troops were also at the site securing the area in Sitio Masalay, Brgy. Salman, Ampatuan municipality.
Coming from the highway of Brgy. Salman, a detachment is situated outside the one-lane road going up the gravesite. Few houses dotted both sides of the road that were abandoned by their occupants. Going up, the place was eerily silent save from the noise made by our convoy. A member of our team sadly commented that the place is part of their ancestral domain. This particular member is from theTeduray-Lambangian, one of the tribal groups of Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. There were three of them in our team. They purposely joined the team in coming to the area to see for themselves the location of the gravesite. They were worried that some of their tribe members may be living within the vicinity and could have been displaced by the incident out of fear. They were also thinking of organizing a cleansing ritual on the burial grounds.
The mass gravesite is situated at a hilly portion in Sitio Masalay with a panoramic view of other Maguindanao mountains and plains. The occupants of the houses that dotted below the hill were obviously subsistence farmers judging from the crops grown but now are nowhere to be found. Some of the corn were already awaiting harvest. As one of the CHR team members put it, the people in the area could have silently evacuated when the massacre happened. A few meters away, stood a mosque. From our vantage point, we can easily spot people or moving vehicles below. There’s also no other infrastructure projects in the area, except for the road that leads to and ended at the gravesite.
The distance from the highway to the gravesite is estimated at 2.5-3kms. The forensic experts had an initial survey of the area. However, with the amount of people present in the area (forensic, CHR, media, military, police and bystanders); it was difficult for the experts to get the site all to themselves. People were all over the gravesites despite the presence of yellow ribbons cordoning the place. Meanwhile, the CHR team members coming from the Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat field offices made their reports to the Chair on what they observed when their group was able to witness the recovery and digging of the corpses starting Nov24.
The foreign forensic experts were the last to board the vehicles. Before leaving, they tried looking at the grassy areas surrounding the graves. They were still able to smell some decaying materials. They also made a request not to allow people in the cordoned area to avoid further contamination of the place.
Upon arrival in Cotabato City, a meeting between the CHR and forensic teams took place. The foreign forensic experts were apprised by the CHR on the status of the investigation from their side. The Scene Of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) ARMM also came to brief the group of the status of their investigation. The team was provided a diagram of the gravesite by the SOCO as well as the list of victims which numbered at fifty-seven (57).
With the contradicting number of victims in media reports, which number at sixty-four (64) and that of the investigating agencies (SOCO and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at fifty-seven (57), it was resolved to make an appeal to the family of victims to come forward and provide information on their missing relatives.
The initial Assessment made by the team tonight: 1) The gravesite very much contaminated; there’s a possibility that remains of old crimes can be recovered from the crime scene/grave site; 2) We need a backhoe. CHR will make the request from government agencies and LGUs. A sniffing dog and metal detectors can also help. With out the backhoe, the team will have to forego the site the next day, instead, will go to General Santos City to have a look at the vehicles recovered at the crime scene and talk to families of victims.
November 30, 2009: Ocular inspection of Vehicles found at the Crime Scene and Impounded APC Vehicles at the PNP Regional Office 12; Meeting with CIDG 12 at Camp Lira; meeting with victim of families in Gen San, Marbel and Buluan
At 5:00AM, our team waited at the Pacific Heights Hotel where the foreign forensic experts were billeted to be picked up by the CHR team. Today, our route was General Santos City- Koronadal and Buluan.
All the vehicles that were with the Mangudadatu convoy were brought to the Regional Headquarters PNP Regional Office 12 in General Santos City. Even the two (2) APC vehicles of the Ampatuans were impounded there, including the backhoe used in the digging of the gravesites and in the burying of three (3) vehicles.
CHR Chair de Lima and the two (2) foreign forensic experts did an ocular inspection of the eight (8) vehicles: UNTV van and four Toyota Grandia vans; one official car of Tacurong City, a red Toyota Vios, one Tamaraw FX, and one Pajero. The UNTV van, red Toyota Vios and the Tamaraw FX were the vehicles buried at gravesite 2 (per description of the SOCO diagram). One of the Toyota Grandia vans bore gunshots that showed the trajectory of the bullets were shoot from the inside of the vehicle.
As the team looked on, the police from PNP 12 set up an M79 rifle in one of the APC vehicles. The APC vehicles bore the same text: “ PULISYA” , “PNP” on its hood; with the first one written on its bumper “1508th MAG PPO PMG”; while on the second, “SHARIFF MAG PPO PMG”.
After the ocular inspection, the team proceeded to the CIDG at Camp Lira to talk to the investigating officers. Fifteen (15) families were present at the CIDG to meet with the CHR team. While they talked with the families, I made a quick shopping of the team’s provisions and some materials that the forensic experts will be needing at the gravesite.
By 12:30, we left General Santos City for another meeting with victims’ families at the CHR Office in Marbel. Five (5) families were there. The team then proceeded to Buluan to meet with Toto Mangudadatu. He gave copies of the victims’ pictures when they were taken at the gravesite. He offered to lend the group a backhoe upon learning that we do not have one.
Tonight, we learn that there’s still no backhoe available for tomorrow’s site visit. Thus, we decided to get shovels, picks, trawls, zip lock bags, nails and markers and if possible detectors before leaving for the site the next day. Being the “logistics officer”, I voluntarily offered to do the purchase of the equipments and other needed materials for the site. The Peruvian offered to accompany me so he can make his choices.
December 1, 2009: Digging at the Gravesite; Found a Denture
Today, we went back to the gravesite with our equipments. Chair de Lima is no longer with us as she went back to Manila. Only her team from the different field offices in Mindanao (Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato, Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City) and from NCR, which lead the team, remained with us. With the CHR Chair no longer around, our security escort was also reduced to one(1) 6x6 military vehicle containing a platoon of soldiers and the Simba tank. Col. Jonathan Ponce also delegated one of his men, Lt. Laygo, to head the security forces.
The team did some digging to look for evidence. We only managed to get a garret, a detector used in Malls. It was the only available detector that we are able to get now. I was of little help there, as I do not have the technical training. I just assisted in the taking of pictures, clearing the debris, do some tagging of recovered empty shells and providing logistical support to the team, which I have been doing since the first day. It was very hot in the area, which is why I still feel the extra warmth on my face.
We found a denture (a partial left portion of an upper denture with clamp). The denture is the highlight of our day, however the SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) higher ups will not agree to our proposal to try on the denture to one of the unidentified bodies. They still want to wait for their own orthodontics and a DNA testing to be done on the bodies. So, now, we are trying to let the Commission on Human Rights pressure them to let us do the fitting. The Peruvian expert was quite mad with the whole thing as it was just a matter of fitting the dentures to know if it fits as DNA testing is unavailable in the area. We also recovered empty shells, slugs and live ammunition from the crime scene, and some personal effects.
On another note, as the joint CHR and forensic team were busy digging and looking for evidence, three men arrived wearing a vest similar to that of the CHR team. At first, I thought they were CHR personnel from the other field offices, just newly arrived. However, when one turned around, the text in their vest said “Election Monitors” from the Citizens Care. One of them went straight inside the cordoned area and go for the marked evidence, the denture, and touching it. Some of them also took pictures of the crime scene and the investigating team. The forensic experts also thought they were part of the group that is why they were slow to react. However, when they learned that these people were not from the CHR, they asked the men to get out of the cordoned area and only allowed the media and the whole team to remain. Even the military was asked to stay out of the cordoned area so as not to crowd the place and further contaminate it.
The team’s assessment tonight: SOCO and CIDG did not make a thorough investigation of the crime scene, as we were still able to find some evidences at the crime scene.
There is also a possibility of another person missing with the discovered denture if it will not fit the unidentified bodies.
December 2: The Group Splits: One team for the denture fitting; one team for the Consolidation of gathered Documents
Today, the team split into two, tasking were made as to whose team will go to Koronadal and the other for the collection of information and consolidation of the documents available.
The first team with the two experts went to Koronadala City to talk to the family of one of the victims, whose body was not yet found. The group was also able to talk to the dentist who made the denture of the missing person. The dentist and the family positively identified the dentures as belonging to Mr. Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, of the Midland Review of Tacurong City. It seems that the dentist had put a trademark on all the dentures that he made, and the dentures that the group discovered at the site belong to one of his clients, Mr. Momay.
However, the actual fitting of the denture with the unidentified bodies was no longer made, as one of the unidentified bodies have a complete set of teeth, while the other have intact dentures.
Another thing, there was an information given to us that in Brgy. Limpungo in Shariff Aguak cell phones and computers were burned and buried. Accordingly, it was A1 information and the team must get there before the said evidence will be taken by some group (who wouldn’t like those evidence to be brought out). Unfortunately, the direction given was so sketchy and it was already late when the group arrived in the area, thus, did not find the burned and buried objects. Later in the night, I heard over the radio that the SOCO team found burnt and buried cell phones and camera in Brgy. Limpungo.
One team member was so distraught when they entered Shariff Aguak and was quite emotional when they arrived in Cotabato City, as she did not expect that the team would really get inside the municipality. The placed was also heavy with AFP troops. Emotions ran high with the day’s experience and a tense exchange of words erupted within the group.
For my part, I was delegated to coordinate with the CHR team to create diagrams on the positions and locations of the victims inside the cars and in the graves, the collation of mobile numbers of the victims, collection of information, photocopying of police investigation reports and pictures, videos, timelines, among others. Therefore, I stayed behind with the CHR team assigned with the documents. In studying the documents, I made a comparison on the reports made by the SOCO and CIDG. Some of the names listed in the SOCO report do not matched up with that of CIDG report. Even the diagram made by both agencies on the crime scene differed. Meanwhile, the Executive Director of CenterLaw Philippines, Atty. Romel Bagares planed in from Manila to join the forensic investigation. He has been doing interviews with the family of victims coming from the media last week. I showed him the diagrams that I am studying and my observations. I also asked him for contacts of the family of the victims whom the CHR people can call to ask the information that we need.
Later, the team then had an assessment of the day’s work, the resources available at our disposal and reading of the situation. Initially, news ran that the President would be arriving in Koronadal the next day. More AFP troops, in full battle gear, massed up to Maguindanao, accordingly to make an arrest of Ampatuan Sr. and the ARMM Regional Governor. There were also rumors going around that the supporters of the Ampatuans will lay siege to Cotabato City. Meanwhile, as to the available resources, the backhoe is still not available.The sniffing dog is also still being worked out. Thus, the team agreed to go back to the site the next day and go on with the manual digging. It was planned that the group will try to physically scour the area starting from the dug up graves getting down to the bushes and the grassy portions to see if pieces of evidences were thrown out.
Due to the afternoon’s experience in Shariff Aguak, a suggestion was made that for team members who do not want to be put in a situation where quick decisions have to be made like the one in entering Brgy. Limpungo, the individual/s concerned should decide now whether to go with the team tomorrow. Moreover, should the situation during the night will deteriorate, the team tried to devise an exit plan. The exit plan did not sit well with one of the CHR team members from Cotabato City. She was of the opinion that it was all right for the others to talk about exit plans, but what about them who would be left behind…. I told her that she is not alone. We are also based in Cotabato City, but then we have to become organized and not let our emotions get the better of us. I perfectly understand what the team members are feeling and going through. They have to leave behind their families to do their work that could put their own and their families’ security at risk. However, if we wanted to seek justice, not only because we are in this kind of work, we have to be prepared of any possibilities and take courage ourselves, even if there are times that we feel like letting others to do the task for us. A contemplative silence would suddenly fell among the group during dinner and would only be rouse by some attempts of light banter by some team members.
However, when the forensic team had a risk assessment with its internal security team later in the night, it was found out that there were three (3) instances where armed men have been going to the hotel asking for the whereabouts of the team as well as the number of persons that the team has. Acting on this report, we had to make a hasty evacuation of the forensic team to a safer place. The CHR and forensic team were billeted in different hotels. The CHR has security detail while the forensic team only had the built in (unarmed) security escorts and nothing else.
A friend commented that how could the forensic team not feel secure when Maguindanao is heavily guarded by AFP troops. Even with the strong presence of the troops in Maguindanao and our military escorts, but at the hotel in Cotabato City where the forensic team stayed, there is no military or police detail to secure the team. We also do not have any ideas who were those armed men that kept on going the hotel.Maybe, we are just being threatened and it was meant as a warning to the group.
It was almost 11PM when the forensic experts were evacuated. My colleague and I went back to our office. I contemplated over the events of the day and felt disturbed. At 12 midnight, Atty. Bagares called informing me that they did a further risk assessment. Their organization decided to pull out temporarily the forensic experts from Cotabato, while waiting for a backhoe to be available and to cool off for a bit. The team might also transfer base. I asked him if the CHR team already know of this change of plans. He answered that he will also inform them
Today is also the first time that I really looked at the pictures of the victims of the massacre. They are so gruesome. I can feel the physical pain and brutality by just looking at the pictures. Coldness gripped my heart and the constriction in my chest stayed with me for a long time. I guess, that also greatly contributed to my feeling so down tonight.
December 3: Temporary Pull- Out of the Forensic Team
The forensic team left this afternoon. We send them off to the airport. They will be back, hopefully, on Saturday with a backhoe, which will be secured by the CenterLaw Philippines. Then, it’s continue with the digging. The team will no longer be based here in Cotabato, though.It will be transferred to Koronadal City, where the team felt a lot safer as coming from there, most of the Maguindanao towns that are heavily manned by the military checkpoints will be avoided. The Peruvian forensic expert asked me to join them, as he also wants someone from the civil society group to be part of the team.
Before leaving, the forensic and CHR team huddled in a meeting; the Peruvian asked me what I thought with all that happened to us, being someone from a civil society organization. I answered that the CHR, especially the Chair, could have pulled some strings so that we can get a backhoe from government agencies in the area that I know is available. However, these agencies kept on denying the backhoe to us saying that they do not have one. I was of the opinion that the support given to us by the government was only superficial, it was just for appearances. While they provide us with military escort, there's really no real support from the government, as the LGU and government agencies won’t provide us with equipments that could facilitate the work at the gravesite. Even the Engineering Battalion of the AFP will not let us borrow their backhoe saying that theirs is already not in good condition. We cannot also borrow a backhoe from Maguindanao, as it is the one used in the digging of the graves. Someone from the team suggested that we could always borrow from the Mangudadatu’s as Toto Mangudadatu had made an offer for the use of his backhoe when we visited him at his residence. She justified that it’s not a personal property of the Mangudadatu’s but the government’s. However, that would certainly put color to our investigation and will undermine the credibility of the group as an Independent Investigation team. That is why I could not help but ask if this could this be their (government) way of slowing down the investigation or worse covering up the massacre. The CHR team said that Chair de Lima already asked these agencies, and they said they do not have a backhoe. She even tried private contractors, but still nothing, that is why it was so frustrating...
The forensic experts then requested me to ask for copies of the collated documents that they requested the other day, as I was the one working with the collation of documents. I relayed this request to the CHR team but they told us to make an official request of the said documents to the Chair as they cannot release them to the experts. I was befuddled with this reply. If the forensic experts where deputized by the CHR in the forensic investigation, why would they not be provided copies of the documents for study? Are we that bureaucratic, that our team has to make a formal request first? My reaction was echoed by the experts and by Atty. Bagares when I relayed to them the CHR’s answer to our request.
The experts do not want to go back to Manila leaving things as they are. However, with no available equipment, it would be a very slow work with no significant result. Thus, they agreed to pull out for the moment, promising to come back very soon and with implicit demand that backhoe will be available already when they come back. At this point of the investigation, one thing is clear. We have confirmed that one person is missing with the found denture. Our continuing digging is to help find that one missing person and restore his body to his family and relatives. The team was struck with the situation that families were squabbling over the bodies of unidentified persons. If the team can help find the body, it will be a big help to the bereaved family as they continue to suffer in pain and anguish over the death of their love one.
December 4- Martial Law looms
The forensic experts are already back. They fly in again this afternoon. We are transferring our base to Koronadal City. I will follow them tomorrow, just need to tidy some loose ends at the office before joining the team. I was also requested to talk to a contact that could possibly give us a lead on the investigation especially to find people who can lead us on the places where bodies could possibly be buried.
At midnight of December 5, 2009, I got a call from our CHR counterpart that Maguindanao is placed under Martial Law. I asked: “So, what are we going to do tomorrow?” She said that we will prepare as planned to leave at 6AM but we will await orders from the military whether we can proceed or not. One question kept running through my mind: “How will the declaration of Martial Law affect the forensics’ and parallel investigation of CHR?”
I called up Atty. Bagares with this latest development. There was a short pause at the other end. He then asked me the plans of the CHR. I relayed what the CHR team member told me. Then, there was the issue of the security escorts for the forensic team coming from Koronadal. Atty. Bagares then told me that they don’t have security escorts in going to the site. It was my time to pause a bit. Then I said that this is the consequence of transferring to Koronadal as we won’t be part of the convoy of the CHR team, which is coming from Cotabato City. I told him that I will inform the CHR of this situation and if it’s possible that security escorts will also be provided for us. We agreed that the security escorts need not get the forensic team in Koronadal City but will just meet the team at the border of Esperanza and Ampatuan municipality.
December 5- Martial Law declared in Maguindanao
Early in the morning, as I am preparing to join the CHR team at their hotel to await orders from the military, I tuned in to DZRH. Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan was live on radio. He said that as early as 3AM, his father was taken by the military to the EASTMINCOM in Davao City by Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer. He himself is under the custody of the police and brought to General Santos City. He was appealing for their rights to be protected and respected. He said that he is innocent, and if these things can be done to them, this will be done to ordinary citizens.
We waited for orders, whether our team can proceed to the gravesite. Our teams were told to stay put and wait for orders from the military. Surprisingly, when I arrived at the hotel of the CHR team, our police escorts were already in place. They breakfasted with us as we all wait for orders. Accordingly, armed men are found near the area of the gravesite that is why the military do not want us there to avoid complications. They have to neutralize first those armed men before allowing us to the area. I was puzzling over this latest development. I know that the AFP already secured the area. If armed men were there, a confrontation should have already ensued…. I could not help but voicing this thought to one of the CHR team.
With this latest development, the CHR team was ordered by the Chair to pull out of Cotabato. Again, I was puzzled. I again asked, “So, what will happen to our investigation…?” A shrug was all the answer that I got. This seems to be my line of thought for the rest of the day.
I called up Atty. Bagares, who was with the forensic team in Koronadal City and told him of the possibility of the CHR pulling out any time soon. I again shoot my question at him. He told me that the forensic team would stay and proceed with the investigation with or without the presence of the CHR as the group was anyway deputized by the former. He then asked me to proceed to Koronadal to join the group there.
I told the CHR team that I am leaving for Koronadal. They asked me the plans of the forensic team. I replied that they are staying put in Koronadal. They then told me that they were also told by the Chair to put on hold the pull out of the CHR team.
Anticipating the heavy presence of military and checkpoints, I made a detour in North Cotabato in going to Koronadal. When I was on the bus for Kabacan, our CHR counterpart called saying that the whole CHR team are staying. The military already give clearance for us to proceed to the site. She also gave me the name of the police officer that will lead the police escorts for the forensic team. She instructed us to pass by the Esperanza Police Station to meet our escorts. I passed on the instruction to Atty. Bagares as estimating my travel time, I already have doubts that I can make it before the team leaves Koronadal.
While having lunch at the bus terminal, all the talk of the commuters, bus drivers, and vendors centered on the Martial law declaration and the raids being conducted by the military in several areas in Maguindanao among big political families. Van operators were also complaining that the number of commuters have considerably reduced that day. They were of the common opinion that people are getting afraid to go out of their homes due to Martial law. I heard this observation again when I took a van from Tacurong to Koronadal. I dozed off. When I woke up, I thought we were already in Koronadal but we are still in Tacurong cruising around, as the driver has to look for passengers. It took almost an hour for the van driver to go around picking passengers.
The team has already left for the field when I arrived in Koronadal. I took the initiative to meet a friend whose relatives were one of the victims in the November 23 massacre. I verified the report that his other cousin also died during that fateful day. Thankfully, he cleared up that his cousin is alive. She did not join the convoy at the last minute after receiving a call from her husband. I was happy and thankful to hear this piece of news.
My friend then introduced me to the operator of the “Allen’s Funeral Home” of Koronadal City, who happen to be his friend. It seems that the Mangudadatus and several others were brought to her funeral home. She described to me the condition of the bodies by the time it was brought to them, which were already blackish. The total number of bodies that was brought to her funeral parlor was twenty-two (22). She said that they had to work very slowly as they cannot touch the bodies yet before they were autopsied. The Mangudadatus also would not let just any investigator touch the body of his wife and relatives. He brought in a female pathologist to do the autopsy. She also related that it was only the Mangudadatus that were taken out of the graves ahead of the others. However, the rest of the victims were taken 12 hours after the massacre. Allegedly, she was told by the SOCO team that responded to the crime scene that they cannot take away the bodies as they were told not touch anything by Mayor Andal Ampatuan,Jr. who went there at the scene of the crime. Accordingly, the SOCO team had to obey out of fear. She said, that explains why most of the bodies were beyond recognition as they were already in the advanced state of decomposition. To neutralize the stench of the bodies, all they can place were charcoal and baking soda on the beds where the bodies were placed awaiting for autopsies. She further added that the investigators that work on the autopsy where from Davao, Baguio and General Santos City.
It seems that Esmael “Toto” Magudadatu was not satisfied with the result of the autopsy, as he wanted another autopsy done on his wife. Accordingly, the result of the medico-legal report on his wife did not reflect any signs of rape.
December 6- Final Digging
As I was preparing my things inside my hotel room, I tuned in to the morning news. Senators and lawyers, including Atty. Harry Roque, were preparing petitions before the Supreme Court questioning the validity of Martial Law. Scene of the old Ampatuan at his hospital room was also flashed. Then, one of the reports said that rebellion charges will be filed against Ampatuan Sr, Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and other Ampatuan relatives. I was bewildered with this news, but as our team had to leave, I turned off the television hastily. By 7:30AM, our team left Koronadal. With us is Sherman, the famous sniffing dog that was brought in all the way from Manila.
On our way to the site, the experts briefed me. The Peruvian was concerned that there could be more bodies or missing persons. He came up with this assumption as one of the vehicles that we saw at the PNP 12, bore gunshots at the back seat of the passenger side, but according to the testimony of the authorities, the vehicle only had one person inside, the driver. He was also concerned that the driver could have picked up passenger/s from Koronadal going to Maguindanao with the presence of sacks of charcoal at the back of the vehicle.
I also raised to him that in my conversation with the CHR team the other day, they came up with seven (7) more additional names to the fifty-seven (57) reported by SOCO and CIDG, still excluding Mr. Momay of the Midland Review of Tacurong City. These seven names were gleaned from the Information filed in Court. However, I had the opportunity to verify the seventh person in the list last night and she is alive. He asked me how it is possible that the name of the woman was still placed in the Information and declared as dead. I answered that this could be because her name was found in the manifesto of the hotel and she did not surfaced to correct the reports that she was one of the casualties. This could also be the reason why the other names are still included in the Information filed in Court. It seems that the woman fear for her life that is why she did not surface and correct the news that she is dead. My friend told me that his cousin still received calls from unidentified numbers that is why she also refused to answer calls from her mobile phone. Even close family friends were keep in the dark that she’s alive. So, if there is indeed six (6) more names plus that of Mr. Momay, the number of victims will total to sixty-four (64). We are back to our question, where are the other bodies buried if indeed they are dead.
With the above exchanges, we resolved to get copies of the SOCO report on the vehicles, to ask the CHR to verify the status of the supposed six dead persons in the Information. Another thing is the continued appeal for families to come forward to give information on their missing relatives and to really ascertain the number of still missing persons. Oddly, the CHR still did not provide the copies of the collated documents to the forensic experts until now.
He then told me that Toto Mangudadatu asked for a re-autopsy of the body of his wife. He was of the opinion that if this is the case, the re-autopsy should not be done on one body only, but this should be done to all the dead victims. However, this could pose a problem, as the other families may not agree to exhume the bodies.
We met up with the CHR team at the detachment in Brgy. Salman. Unlike the previous occasions when we were not stopped by the military, this time our convoy was checked. We were also made to sign in a logbook. The forensic experts were surprised with this new routine by the military. I told them that this could be a manifestation of Martial Law.
For the rest of the day, the team worked at the site and did some digging with the use of the backhoe provided to us by General Khu of PNP 12, the sniffing dog and the new sets of metal detectors brought in by CenterLaw. The SOCO were also present to take charge of recovered evidence. Looking at the backhoe worked on the graves, I cannot help but imagine that terrible day when the massacre happened. Vision of the victims pleading for their lives, their shouts of terror seemed to fill the place. There was even a time during our first digging when I sat in a clump of earth near one of the graves, when I seemed to hear cries of women. With the location of the gravesites on top of the hill, their shouts mingled with the sounds of gunfire would have echoed in the neighboring plains and mountains.
However, the team only managed to dug up more personal effects, two sets of bags, a wallet containing personal identification cards of Mr. Daniel Tiamzon of UNTV, and pants without any showing of bullet holes. The team also managed to recover more empty shells. After the last digging, Sherman, the sniffing dog was made to go around the grave. She sniffed around with indifference. At 2:30pm, the forensic expert declared the digging at the site over. Everyone was visibly downhearted. I think most of us were hoping that we could unearth Mr. Momay’s body and restore it to his family. The team’s mood was contrary to the atmosphere in the morning when all the teams (forensic, CHR and SOCO) started with light banter.
On the other hand, while the team was doing its digging, I was also made in charge of coordinating with a contact that could possibly help us in pointing to location of possible other buried bodies. After the digging was over, the whole team went down and dropped me and another colleague at Esperanza where we meet the contact. This is a parallel initiative that we are taking hoping that we could get leads into other missing body/ies or person/s. After the meeting, our team went back to Koronadal where we plan our next move.
During dinner, the Peruvian forensic expressed that he wants to fly back to Manila the next day to talk to the Chair on his observations. The other expert said he could stay a day longer to pursue our lead. Then, it was decided that it would be better for the two (2) of them to go back to Manila. Whatever lead we could find, we will coordinate it with CHR.
December 7, 2009: Forensic Investigation Technically Over
This morning, I was requested to talk to our contact again. He said that he is already able to talk to our subject who can possibly help us point to other burial sites. While we made arrangements on how to bring the subject to a place where we can talk to him, we send off the two forensic experts to the airport.
While I was saying my goodbyes to Sherman, her handler patted me at the back. He wished that there will be no more gravesites that would need Sherman’s help. I nodded mutely. Only me, Atty. Bagares and our OIC Chair of the MPPM were left behind at General Santos City. We had a division of task before we parted. Atty. Bagares will visit the family of the still missing media person, Mr. Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay in Tacurong City while we will meet with our contact in Cotabato City. However, when we were travelling back to Cotabato City, our contact did not adhere to our agreement. Therefore, we have to abort the whole thing. We did not know his real motives in contacting us. That is why to avoid more risks; we called off the pursuit of that lead.
It was already 5:30PM when we left Tacurong City. The checkpoints started at Kauran Bridge, the boundary connecting Esperanza and Ampatuan municipality. More or less three (3) kms., we were again stopped at the Salman detachment which led to the gravesite. All roads were clear in Maguindanao. I felt like a surveyor, surveying a ghost town. From Ampatuan to Datu Saudi Ampatuan municipality, there is only 100meters interval from each checkpoint. It was already 7:30PM by the time we reached Cotabato City. Most of the Ampatuan houses looked forlorn without the usual presence of armed CVO surrounding it. Only Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr’s residence was fully lighted with a Simba tank and military troops at its grounds. It seems, Lt. General Raymundo Ferrer, is already taking office, being the Provisional Military Governor of Maguindanao, by virtue of the Presidential Proclamation 1959, putting Maguindanao under Martial Law.
Looking for more leads
Technically the forensic investigation that the team is conducting is over. Therefore, we can now say that the missing body of the 58th person, Mr. Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay of the Midland Review of Tacurong City, is not there or the body we are looking for must have been claimed by someone else's relative/s as we found his dentures at the gravesite. Hence, it is a possibility that it must be another person that is missing. The missing body could be buried elsewhere. We are still exerting efforts for victims’ families to come forward so we can help them recover the bodies. We are also looking into possibilities of more persons missing as there are names that we are looking into that are not included in the list of SOCO and CIDG reports.
According to the CHR documentation, there are still six more persons missing based on the Information filed in Court. The CHR will come out with a report of its Parallel investigation, same goes with the experts. As of this writing, rebellion charges are being prepared by the government prosecutors against Andal Ampatuan, Sr. Gov. Zaldy Uy Ampatuan and the other Ampatuan family members being implicated in the massacre.
Amabella Carumba
Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM)
Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines
December 11,2009
December 11,2009
Note: I wrote this piece a year ago when our organization got involved with the Forensic Investigation at the site of the Ampatuan Massacre.
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