Journos from various media groups, students and human rights advocates staged a candle lighting ceremony in a call to end impunity, while observing the 5th year commemoration of the Ampatuan Massacre.
Entitled “Million Candles Campaign”, the said participants gathered at the foot of the EDSA Shrine last November 23, 2014, 6 p.m., to show solidarity and unity, signifying an urgent call for justice for the 58 victims of the Ampatuan bloodbath. Spearheaded by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the event was attended by Journalists coming from local media groups such as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). Student journalists were present as well, as the Colleger Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) graced the event with their outcry for immediate action through their placards. Various foreign journalists, hailing from Asian and western countries, have also joined the commemoration and have lit their candles during the candle lighting ceremony. According to Ms. Kathyrn Roja G. Raymundo, a senior staff writer of CMFR, the commemoration is under their Press Freedom Protection Program, that records the killings of journalists and other attacks and threats against press freedom as well. To further intensify the campaign, CMFR has also met with journalism student representatives four days before the event. Students from University of the Philippines- Dilliman, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the Bulacan State University were called for a meeting, to urge the said universities to take part of the commemoration by tweeting their messages of sympathy on the November 23, making the different social media sites, especially Twitter, to be an effective tool of spreading awareness about the Ampatuan trial. The Ampatuan Massacre was coined as “the single deadliest attack on journalists in history”, as 58 people, including 32 media workers and journalists, were brutally slaughtered while travelling in a political convoy in Maguindanao. Since November 23, 2009, the day the massacre happened, out of 193 suspects, no one has been convicted.
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“We’re stuck in bail. That’s where we are right now—bail proceedings.”, claimed one of the prosecutors about the present status of the Ampatuan Massacre case trial.
In an exclusive interview at the Center for Media Freedom And Responsibility office, Atty. Prima Quinsayas, legal counsel of Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, relays detail per detail as to why the proper justice for the Ampatuan Massacre victims has not been achieved yet. According to Atty. Quinsayas, out of 193 officially accused, 70 have filed for bail petitions. “Out of 70, the court has resolved 42, 41 were granted. Forty-one police officers were allowed to post bail. Out of the remaining 28 bail petitions, the judge can only resolve 24 because DOJ has not yet rested in the bail petitions of Ulo Ampatuan and the other Ampatuan. Di pa makapageresolve si judge kasi the prosecution has not yet rested.” , she said. She also claimed that Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, who is the presiding judge of the Ampatuan Case, cannot yet resolve the bail petitions of Zaldy and Unsay Ampatuan because they have asked that they’d be allowed to post an evidence in support of their petition. “December this year, Unsay Ampatuan is suppose to start presenting his evidence in support of his bail. So all the rest of the Ampatuans have already expressed that they won’t be presenting their evidence in support of bail, so the judge can already start resolving.” she added. Atty. Quinsayas also explained the system that is being used to process the bail proceedings. “If bail is being sought in a non-bailable crime like murder, what needs to be proven is a strong evidence of guilt. For you to reach a proof beyond reasonable doubt, you need to cross that line of strong evidence of guilt. Kasi kung walang strong evidence of guilt, asa ka pa? Bail only need a strong evidence of guilt. The court’s resolution on bail petitions spells as how the court views the evidence of the prosecution. The fact that 41 police officers were allowed to post bail, that means the judge is not convinced that there is strong evidence of guilt." |
Mga balitang bumabalangkas
sa pangaraw-araw na kasaysayan. Bea Velasco 21 Archives
November 2014
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