Delay in justice proving fatal

For witnesses in the Ampatuan Massacre

By Cong B. Corrales

THE CULTURE of impunity continues to reign in the Philippines.

Media organizations and human rights advocates condemned the recent attack on another witness to the Ampatuan massacre, Wednesday, as they viewed the incident as an apparent attempt to silence and intimidate other potential witnesses to the case.

On Wednesday afternoon, Akmad Baganian Ampatuan—former mayor of Datu Salibo town in Maguindanao—was wounded when unidentified group of armed men ambushed his convoy coming from Cotabato City en route to Shariff Aguak.

Ampatuan is the third witness to be ambushed.

Ampatuan’s convoy, which was escorted by Army troops, figured in a brief gun battle with the armed men at the boundary of Guindulungan and Talayan towns.

The latest attack occurred on the same day the rest of the world commemorated the 66^th declaration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and comes only weeks after the fifth year commemoration of the infamous Ampatuan Massacre, which claimed the lives of 58 persons, 32 of whom were journalists and media workers.

In a statement, Thursday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the incident and attributed the continuing attacks, threats, and intimidation of witnesses and relatives of the massacre victims to the slow pace of the trial, “which has barely cleared the starting gate after more than five long years because of what have been characterized as delaying tactics.”

“Justice delayed is not only justice denied, it is proving to be fatal to people involved in the trial of those accused of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre and to the interests of truth and justice,” the NUJP statement read.

The recently formed Altermidya-Peoples Alternative Media Network—a non-stock, non-profit network of independent, progressive, and alternative media outfits, institutions and individuals— agreed with NUJP in condemning the recent attack.

“(Five) witnesses have already been killed and this bodes ill to the attainment of justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre and emboldens perpetrators of media killings,” Benjie Oliveros, Altermidya spokesperson, said in a text message, Thursday.

NUJP chairperson Rowena Paraan lamented the continued impunity with which witnesses and others involved in the trial are threatened and attacked. She said it will only make justice even more elusive.

A GMA News report, Thursday, quoted Maguindanao police director Rodelio Jocson confirming that Ampatuan and two of his companions were injured in the encounter. Ampatuan was rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Shariff Aguak for treatment, the same report read.

It can be recalled that at about 8:45 in the morning of November 18, this year, armed men ambushed Ampatuan massacre potential witnesses Dennis Sakal and Sukarno “Butch” Saudagal in a remote village of Bagong in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao.

Sakal used to work as a driver for Ampatuan massacre principal suspect Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Saudagal was wounded.

Sakal is the fifth witness to the Ampatuan massacre killed since the case was filed in court half a decade ago.

“This shows the inutility of the Aquino administration in protecting the witnesses and its failure to clip the powers of the Ampatuan clan,” Oliveros, who is also the editor-in-chief of Bulatlat.com, added in the same text message.

Paraan posits that the recent attacks may have stemmed from an “ongoing tug-of-war” between the defense and prosecution over witnesses for the massacre case.

“That these maneuvers can have fatal consequences for one side or the other clearly proves that government’s claims of advances in eradicating the conditions that made the Ampatuan Massacre not just possible but inevitable – corruption, patronage politics, governance by political expediency, warlordism, to name a few – are just as empty as its promises of speedy justice for the victims of the worst incident of electoral violence in recent Philippine history and the single deadliest attack on the media ever.”

NUJP reiterated its demand for the Aquino administration to make good on its pledge of a swift and fair trial to “fulfill its obligation to protect everyone involved in the Ampatuan Massacre trial.”

“The administration has acknowledged that this case will be a litmus test of its determination. Alas, it is a test it seems to be failing very badly,” the NUJP statement also said.