Earlier, families of victims killed in the November 23 massacre joined the interfaith mission on a solemn commemoration. Motoring from Davao, General Santos, Koronadal and Cotabato cities, the families offered prayers, lit candles, released white balloons and scattered rose petals on the site of the most gruesome politically motivated carnage in recent history.
Lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate of the Alliance Against Impunity in Maguindanao, one of the mission organizers, said that the visit was organized to “show our support to the families in our mutual search for justice.”
The mission was organized with the help of Barug Katungod Mindanao, Alliance Against Impunity in Mindanao , Karapatan, Kawagib Moro Human Rights Alliance, Selda, and Pagbabago! Movement for Change. Church groups also participated, most notably the nuns of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, Iglesia Filipina Indipendiente, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and the United Methodist Church.
Zarate lamented that, to date, only Andal Ampatuan Jr. has been tried for murder. The rest of the Ampatuans, powerful allies of the Arroyo administration, are charged with rebellion, which Zarate fears could be easily be dismissed.
Evacuees receive relief goods from progressive groups. View slideshow (Photo by Raymund B. Villanueva / bulatlat.com)
Cotabato City councilor and retired professor Mario Ridao addressed his son Anthony in his speech at the massacre site. “Son, mom and I are here to bring you flowers and light candles… Why did this happen to us?” he wept. Anthony Ridao and his group were not part of the convoy but were merely driving along the highway when the journalists and supporters of the Mangudadatus were stopped by the private army believed to have been personally led by Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.
Other families thanked the mission for organizing the event, the first for many of them, as well as about 250 to 300 participants who traveled from as far sa Basilan Province and Manila for the mission.
Media groups and representatives Satur Ocampo and Luz Ilagan of Bayan Muna and Gabriela, respectively, joined the families and the mission participants in the march to and commemoration at the massacre site. Ocampo and Ilagan declined to speak during the program, however, saying the event was for the families.
As the program ended, tarpaulins printed with calls for justice and the victims’ names were laid out as markers. (Bulatlat.com)
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