Maguindanao massacre timeline

Day of the Massacre

Nov. 23, 2009

A total of 57 people, including 34 journalists are killed in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao when their convoy is waylaid by heavily armed men. Victims are shot at random, decapitated with chainsaws and the killers use a backhoe to dig mass graves.

Aftermath

Nov. 24, 2009 - President Arroyo places the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City under a state of emergency in the wake of the gruesome massacre.

Nov. 26, 2009 – Esmael Mangudadatu files his candidacy for governor of Maguindanao. Authorities tag Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. as a suspect. The Ampatuans are chief political rivals of the Mangudadatus.

Nov. 29, 2009 – The Ampatuan clan hires the services of 40 lawyers in preparation for what is expected to be a long drawn legal battle.

Dec. 1, 2009 – Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., principal suspect in the killing of 57 people, is charged with 25 counts of murder before the Cotabato City regional trial court.

Dec. 5, 2009 – Hours after martial law is declared and nine people, including provincial officials allegedly linked to the massacre, are held in custody, the military announces control over the province of Maguindanao.

Dec. 10, 2009 – Police name 100 government militiamen as additional suspects in the massacre as prosecutors file rebellion charges against some members of the Ampatuan clan.

Dec. 12, 2009 – Police name 130 more respondents in the criminal complaint filed at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with the massacre. President Arroyo approves the lifting of martial law in Maguindanao.

Dec. 15, 2009 – Police charge five members of the Ampatuan clan and 633 others with rebellion.

Dec. 17, 2009 – Jocelyn Solis Reyes, 49, of branch 221, takes on the task shunned by her colleagues – to try the powerful Ampatuan clan for multiple murder.

Jan. 5, 2010 – Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal accused in the massacre, pleads not guilty on the first day of trial.

Jan. 13, 2010 – Witness, Rasul Sangki, Ampatuan town vice mayor, is first to testify against a member of the Ampatuan clan accused of leading the massacre, saying he saw the defendant and his family firing guns as victims knelt and begged for their lives.

Jan. 22, 2010 – The Philippine National Police relieves all policemen assigned in Maguindanao to allay suspicions that they might influence the investigation of the massacre in the province.

Feb. 2, 2010 – Andal Ampatuan Jr. pleads not guilty to 15 counts of murder before a QC court during his second arraignment in Camp Crame.

March 29, 2010 – Quezon City Regional Trial Court dismisses the rebellion charges against members and supporters of the Ampatuan clan due to insufficient evidence.

April 15, 2010 – Police tighten security at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig following the transfer of Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. to a five-storey jail facility inside the 480-hectare compound of the National Capital Region Police Office.

Sept. 8, 2010 – The trial of the Maguindanao massacre case against members of the Ampatuan clan opens at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, with prosecution lawyers hoping there will be no more delays.

Nov. 23, 2010 – A year after the massacre, nobody has been convicted for the gruesome crime. President Aquino vows that justice will be served to the victims of the country’s worst election related massacre. Groups commemorate the massacre with a march to Mendiola.

Jan. 15, 2011 – The widows of seven journalists slain with dozens of others in the Maguindanao massacre file plunder, graft and forfeiture complaints against 25 members of the Ampatuan clan before the Office of the Ombudsman, accusing them of amassing up to P200 million in unexplained wealth.

May 4, 2011 – Relatives of the victims file graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amando Tetangco and two other officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council for their alleged failure to investigate the suspected money-laundering activities of the Ampatuan clan.

June 1, 2011 – Andal Sr. pleads innocent to massacre charges.

June 15, 2011 – Television viewers and radio listeners can monitor live the trial of the Maguindanao massacre after the Supreme Court grants the petition for live media coverage.

June 23, 2011 – Government asks CA to junk Ampatuan petition to lift freeze order on assets.

July 12, 2011 – The Department of Justice rejects the offer of suspended ARMM governor Zaldy Ampatuan to become a state witness in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.

July 29, 2011 – The Supreme Court orders an investigation into the alleged bribery of some justices of the Court of Appeals division handling the petition seeking to clear ARMM Gov. Ampatuan in the Maguindanao massacre.

Aug. 4, 2011 – The Court of Appeals upholds with finality the indictment of former Maguindanao Gov. Ampatuan Sr. for the massacre of 57 people in the province.

Oct. 24, 2011 – Almost two years after the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, a total of 100 accused including nine personnel of the PNP remain unaccounted for to face trial.

Nov. 16, 2011 – Malacañang vows to come up with a solid position to end the culture of impunity on or before the second anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre.