Maguindanao massacre victims' kin feel betrayed by PNoy

MANILA, Philippines - It has been four years since the Maguindanao massacre, but the lawyer representing some of the families of the victims does not see justice anytime soon, particularly during the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

In an interview with ANC's Headstart, lawyer Harry Roque lamented that four years later, only 106 of the accused have been placed in detention and 88 remain at large.

"It's frustrating," Roque said, adding that only 148 of the 500 witnesses have been presented.

And since about 45 percent of the accused are still at large, Roque said they are only actually close to the process of finishing up to 50 percent of the 50 percent of those who are actually being prosecuted.

"So that places at roughly at around 20, 22 percent of where we should be and this is four years later," the lawyer said.

Roque said the Philippine National Police has also not yet finished collating all physical evidence for the case.

At this rate, Roque said the prosecution of all the accused won't be achieved within Aquino's term.

He said those behind the gruesome killings should be punished immediately since the Philippines is already the deadliest country for journalists.

"I would hope it (prosecution) will be during my lifetime," said Roque. "Until we send people behind bars, the killings will continue."

Compensation

Later today, the families of the Maguindanano massacre victims will file a petition at the United Nations Human Rights Committee to seek compensation from the Aquino administration.

Roque said it is established in the human rights law that when a state violates its obligation to protect the right to life, it is obliged to pay compensation to the victims.

But the Aquino administration has refused to do so, saying the massacre occurred during the past government.

"There's no human rights perspective as far as the government is concerned. They do not know that the killing of these victims is a violation of the right to life and  they have a duty to provide the victims an adequate domestic remedy, which means it should also be prompt and not this long," Roque explained.

Roque said compensation is important because most of the victims, particularly the journalists, were breadwinners of their families, who have been struggling every day since the tragedy.

"They want compensation because their rights were violated. They don't basically abuloy or payment out of charity."

Roque wonders why the Aquino administration cannot give compensation to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre when it has already paid a victim of the Manila hostage crisis to ease ties with Hong Kong.

"Why can't we do the same thing to our fellow Filipinos?" Roque asked, noting that they, too, are victims of violations of right to life committed by state agents.

'We feel betrayed by Aquino'

Roque is saddened that his clients actually supported Aquino during his presidential campaign only to be refused of compensation by his administration years later.

"It was only my victims (clients), in fact, who said 'As victims, we will endorse Noynoy Aquino because we think under his leadership, we can achieve justice,'" he said.

The lawyer said one of his clients even appeared in a television ad for the President. She then asked help from Aquino himself her life was threatened.

"He (Aquino) gave her a bodyguard who happened to be related to the accused," Roque said.

Upon this discovery, the victim left the country and sought asylum.

"So we feel particularly betrayed, so to speak, because we were the victims who stood for him, and who told him [that] we believe in him. And I'm starting to regret that we actually did," said Roque.

Institutional problems

Roque suggested that the rules of court should be re-examined and amended to ensure that cases like the Maguindanao massacre will speed up.

He said different pillars of the criminal justice system "are simply not working" resulting to the delays in the case.

The lawyer claimed that investigators are not doing their tasks properly while prosecutors are not helping in the probe. The courts, he said, do not care about the delays.

"We need to address these institutional limitations if we are to make sure that there is in fact a rule of law in the Philippines," Roque said.

Considered as the worst election-related violence and media-killings in the country, the Maguinadano massacre claimed the lives of 58 people, including 31 journalists, in November 23, 2009.

The 58 victims were part of an electoral convoy that was set to file the certificate of candidacy of then-gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu.

The main suspects are from the Ampatuan political dynasty, including former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his namesake son, former Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.