THE military said on Monday that the Ampatuan Massacre, whose second year will be commemorated on Wednesday by journalists and relatives of the victims, has resulted in the tightening of the rules on the recruitment of members of militiamen.

“Because of what happened in Maguindanao, we have been very strict in the recruitment of Cafgu [Citizens Armed Forces Geographic Unit] Active Auxiliaries or CAA and in the administration or use of Cafgu in the country,” said Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, Armed Forces spokesman.

“We have ensured stricter measures in terms of supervision. The cadres and Cafgu supervisors who are organic members of the Armed Forces are personally supervising [the] CAAs,” he added.

CAAs and members of Civilian Volunteer Organizations were used by the Ampatuan family as bodyguards and had used them in the massacre of 58 people, including 32 journalists on November 23, 2009, in Maguindanao.

Aside from the stricter recruitment of CAA members, Burgos said the military is helping the National Police in running after the Ampatuan Massacre perpetrators who are still at large and are the subjects of the warrant of arrest that was issued by Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City.

“Aside from the manhunt operations, we also continue to support the police in providing timely and essential intelligence information relative to the personalities that we are pursuing,” Burgos said.

The National Police, through its spokesman, Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., said it was pursuing round- the-clock operations against those who are involved in the massacre through the tracker teams that it has created.

Cruz assured the relatives of the victims as well as journalists that the police will not stop until all of the suspects have all been arrested.

Two days before the anniversary of the massacre, the National Police said a total of 95 out of the 195 suspects have been arrested, including the supposed brains of the mass murder—former Maguindano Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and at least two of his sons, including former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) launched on Monday a “Blog Action Day” as part of the series of its commemoration of the massacre.

The activity hopes to spread the message about the mass killing and urge the government to solve it along with an end to the prevailing culture of impunity.

“On this day, we would like to invite all of you to use the power of communication and the Internet to speak out for justice and against the continued impunity with which those who wish to suppress freedom of expression impose the ultimate censorship—death —and how the apathy and inaction of government has made this so,” said NUJP safety officer Rowena Paraan.

“The families of the 58 victims continue to suffer from the loss of their loved ones, most of whom were family breadwinners. Some of the children continue to innocently wait in vain for their murdered parents to come home,” she added.

Enact FOI law now—Cami

AS this developed, the Board of Trustees of the Capampangan in Media Inc. (Cami), a professional organization of journalists tracing their roots to Pampanga, issued this statement:

“As the media community remembers the Ampatuan Massacre in 2009 when 32 of our fellow journalists on coverage were systematically gunned down by henchmen of Maguindanao warlords, we stand in solidarity with the victims and their families in their difficult quest for justice.

“We in Cami join our brothers in the trade throughout the world in pledging a common commitment to see this case through.

“While we in the Philippines have our Bill of Rights and other constitutional guarantees for the free and full flow of information, there are attempts to manipulate and distort the revelation of the truth in the mass media.

“We take this occasion, therefore, to press the government, especially Malacañang and the Congress, to enact soonest a genuine Freedom of Information Act.”

Journalists from all over the country will troop to Ampatuan, Maguindanao, on Tuesday to commemorate the second year anniversary of the massacre.

The provincial government of Maguindanao and other groups will have their commemoration activity the next day.

Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary- general, said members of the Fourth Estate will visit the massacre site in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao, on Tuesday morning to light candles and offer prayers for the fallen comrades.

Similar activities will be held in other major urban areas in the country.

In the massacre site, the provincial government has established a marker where the names of the victims were enshrined.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu will lead Maguindanao officials in commemorating the death of 58 people, one of them his wife Genalyn.

Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his namesake son were the primary suspects in the carnage and all of them, including their accomplices, are facing multiple murder charges.

They are all detained at Metro Manila District Jail at Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City.

The local chapter of NUJP will have its sober and quiet commemoration by planting trees inside the camp of the 38th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, according to NUJP chapter President John Unson.

Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, 6th Infantry “Kampilan” Division commander, has ordered the deployment of road security personnel to ensure safe travel of those visiting the massacre site.

On November 24, the Bishop-Ulama Council will start the observance of Mindanao Week of Peace where various activities aimed at raising awareness on the importance of peace advocacy have been lined up.

Civil case vs GMA 

THE families of victims killed in the Ampatuan Massacre in 2009 are set to file a P15-million civil suit against former President Arroyo for allegedly tolerating the Ampatuan clan’s private army during her administration.

In an interview at the Department of Justice main office in Manila, lawyer Harry Roque, who represents some of the families of the 58 persons who were killed in the massacre, that their camp will be asking P1 million damage for each of his 15 clients from Mrs. Arroyo for her failure to clamp down the growing influence and power of the Ampatuans.

“If not for Mrs. Arroyo, the Ampatuan clan would not be able to build up such army that terrorized those who had been living in Maguindanao,” Roque said.

Meanwhile, several families of Ampatuan Massacre victims made a short trip to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reiterate their appeal to de Lima to reject any request of former Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan to be included in the witness-protection program.

In their letter to de Lima, the families of the massacre victims expressed their apprehension that Zaldy, who was tagged as one of the masterminds in the killing of 58 people, might suddenly be included in the DOJ’s WPP now that the electoral-sabotage case had already been filed in court.

They claim that there is no need for the testimony of Zaldy Ampatuan in the electoral-sabotage case and thus was not worthy to be included in the WPP.

Instead of placing him in the WPP, Roque said that the government should see to it that Zaldy would be arraigned for his offenses as soon as possible.


(With J. San Juan and PNA)