De Lima supports call for live coverage of Maguindanao massacre verdict

Detained Senator Leila de Lima expressed support Thursday to the request of journalists' groups and news outfits to the Supreme Court to allow the live coverage and streaming of the verdict on the Maguindanao massacre case. 

“I support the calls of media organizations for the open and live coverage of the scheduled promulgation of the decision in the Ampatuan Massacre case on December 19,” De Lima said in a press statement.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism also requested the court to designate a media area during the promulgation of judgment at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

They were supported by the editors and heads of several Manila-based and regional news outfits, including GMA Network, ABS-CBN, News5, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philstar.com, Rappler, Vera Files, MindaNews, and the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

In their letter to Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, the organizations said a live coverage or streaming will allow the families of the massacre's 58 victims who may not be able to go to Metro Manila to hear the reading of the ruling live.

As someone undergoing an “undeserved trial that was initially shut off from the world to watch, I understand the importance of making public every single detail of the verdict of this case, which dragged on with the defense stalling the procedures” De Lima said.

A Muntinlupa regional trial judge initially prohibited reporters from covering the hearing on the cases filed against De Lima but the Supreme Court later allowed it. 

The senator said the Maguindanao massacre case is the single, most horrific crime – multiple murder – in modern Philippine history, in terms of the number of victims, which include media practitioners, and the beastly nature of the killings.

“Given how the case is now overdue, the public deserves no less than being able to see how this case will pan out,” she said.

“We need to remain vigilant as the court proceedings come to a close, 10 years after that gruesome Monday in 2009. The notoriety of this crime is known all over the world, and the world needs to know, in real time, the verdict. Will true and complete justice be served? Or will impunity continue to reign in this country?” she added. —LDF, GMA News