EDITORIAL - Still no full justice in massacre

Thirteen years after 58 people were massacred and buried haphazardly in a shallow hilltop grave in Maguindanao, several of them crushed inside their vehicles, the aggrieved families of the victims are still waiting for full justice.

The 58th victim, journalist Reynaldo Momay, is not officially acknowledged as a victim because his body has not been found. Even if he has never been seen alive again, he is deemed merely as missing, and his relatives are not entitled to any form of compensation.

Justice finally came in December 2019, when Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes convicted 28 people of 57 counts of murder and sentenced them to life in prison without parole. Fifteen accessories to the massacre in Ampatuan town were sentenced to six to 10 years.

But 56 others, including Sajid Islam Ampatuan, were cleared. Of 197 suspects indicted, 80 remain at large, including 15 other members of the Ampatuan clan. Eight of the indicted, including clan partriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., died while the case was being tried.

And adjudication is far from over. Convicted masterminds Andal Ampatuan Jr. and his brother Zaldy reportedly plan to appeal their conviction directly before the Court of Appeals. Their relatives, Anwar Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid, have filed motions for reconsideration before the Quezon City court. The victims’ relatives fear that even if there is strong evidence to uphold the convictions, the Ampatuan clan has strong political connections and may influence the courts in the final ruling.

Another source of dismay as the 13th anniversary of the massacre is marked today is that the circumstances that breed impunity remain pervasive in many parts of the country, especially where dynastic clans rule. These clans control not only businesses and livelihood opportunities in their turfs but also every aspect of the criminal justice system. While there may not be another massacre of the same scale as the one in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao, murder continues to be regarded as the best tool for eliminating political rivals and permanently silencing media critics. Percival Mabasa, better known as broadcaster Percy Lapid, is just the latest victim of this impunity.

With the approach of the anniversary of the massacre, the Philippine National Police renewed its commitment to capture more of the suspects who are at large. The PNP will be held to its word. Apart from evading justice, murderers who roam free can kill again, including witnesses and relatives of their victims.