11 years after Maguindanao massacre, 'fight not yet over' for victims' families

The fight is not yet over for the families of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre 11 years after the brutal murder of their loved ones, and nearly one year since a trial court convicted the masterminds and their accomplices.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes' ruling is still being appealed: those found guilty are questioning the conviction, and the victims' families are seeking more in damages, continuing a legal battle that may reach the Supreme Court before it is decided with finality.

Seventy-six defendants are at large, and a second wave of complaints at the Department of Justice resulted in the indictment of only eight of 48 respondents.

"We're now on the 11th year and we are still here because there are still matters that have to be considered and there are matters that need to be acted upon," said Nena Santos, lawyer for the victims' families. "The fight is not yet over."

At a virtual forum, Santos said the records of the case were submitted to the Court of Appeals, where the appeals are pending, only last October 20. The trial court, on the other hand, resolved the motion for reconsideration on the civil award just last August.

Santos urged continued vigilance on the case, saying she is "nervous" about the Office of the Solicitor General, which represents the government in appeals. She also said she fears the Department of Justice is no longer on the victims' side after prosecutors indicted only a handful of people in a second batch of murder complaints.

She said the complaints were filed in 2015 and resolved by prosecutors in August 2019, adding that the resolution was released on September 2020 and was received by the families only last October.

The family of the photojournalist Reynaldo "Bebot" Momay, the 58th victim whose remains were never found, is also appealing. The trial court had dismissed his relatives' claim for damages because there was supposedly not enough evidence that Momay died in the massacre.

"I can only wish one day that 57 will be up by one, since it matters more to me than before. For me, to forget is not an option, it is never an option, and it will never be an option," said Reynafe Momay Castillo, the photojournalist's daughter.

Exactly 11 years ago, around a hundred armed men abducted the wife, sisters, relatives, and supporters of Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu who were on their way to file his candidacy, forced them up a remote hill, and shot them using high-powered firearms.

Fifty-eight people died, 32 of them members of the media who had accompanied Mangudadatu's camp to cover the candidacy filing. Six of the victims were not part of the convoy at all.

After nearly a decade of trial, Reyes convicted former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan Sr., Anwar "Ipi" Ampatuan Jr., and Anwar Sajid "Ulo" Ampatuan, and several police officers, in December 2019.

They were declared guilty of multiple murder for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao in 2009 that is known as an unprecedented case of election-related violence and an exceptionally brutal attack on the press.

Mary Grace Morales, who lost her husband and her sister in the massacre, said she has stood firm in their quest for justice in the past 11 years. "I will stand hanggang matapos," she said.—AOL, GMA News