Flood hits Maguindanao massacre memorial site

A day before Undas (All Saints' and All Souls' Days), floods from heavy rain affected the site of the Maguindanao massacre in Ampatuan.

 

According to GMA News stringer Ferdinandh Cabrera, the memorial site of the massacre was flooded.

 

Considered the worst single-day election-related violence in Philippine history, the Maguindanao massacre claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 journalists, who were part of a convoy that was supposed to register then-Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, an Ampatuan rival in the gubernatorial race for the 2010 automated polls.

 

They were said to have been stopped at a checkpoint at Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town and gunned down by armed men led by the Ampatuans. Mangudadatu eventually won as governor.

 

However, unlike when the massacre occurred, the surroundings of the site have been cemented over, with trees and plants planted around the area, Cabrera noted.

 

Some residents have also returned to their homes near the site.

 

Resident Acrima Abdulkarim said, "Mas takot kami sa mga armado kaysa mga sinasabi nilang multo, hindi naman kami nakakaramdam noon."

 

On November 23, loved ones and supporters of the victims are expected to arrive at the site to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the massacre.

 

On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said she has taken on the task of supervising prosecutor in the nearly five-year-old trial of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre case.

 

De Lima replaced Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan as the "overall supervisor" after the official figured in a disagreement with private prosecutor Nena Santos and allegations that he received a P20-million bribe from members of the Ampatuan clan.

 

"I am now the one supervising the case personally overall," De Lima told reporters, adding she made the decision last week. — Ferdinandh Cabrera/Amanda Fernandez/VC, GMA News