MANILA, Philippines - The Ampatuan massacre trial resumed Wednesday at Camp Bagong Diwa, with prosecutors asking for 58 seconds of silence during the hearing in memory of the 58 victims of the massacre.
Some families of the victims who attended the hearing expressed dismay that justice has remained elusive 2 years after the killings.
Catherine Nuñez, mother of television reporter Victor Nuñez who perished in the tragedy, couldn't hold back her tears.
She said this is the third christmas flowers france that their family will spend without Victor.
55,000 years to resolve?
One of the victims' lawyers, Atty. Harry Roque, has claimed that it may take 55,000 years for the cases to be resolved because of the the sheer number of the accused (197), arrested (93 with only 64 arraigned), and witnesses (500).
On Wednesday, Roque filed a motion for the partial declaration of judgment that he hopes can help hasten the judicial process.
During the hearing, Army Major Peter Navarro, executive officer of the 64 Infantry Battalion, identified Police Inspector Rex Ariel Diongon, Inspector Julius Macaraeg, Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, and Senior Police Officer 2 Badawi Bakal as the police officers assigned at a checkpoint along Masalay Highway near where the massacre occurred.
Navarro said Sukarno denied that an abduction had taken place.
However, when the military went to the scene of the carnage in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, they found the lifeless bodies of the victims sprawled across the area.
Only 2 main suspects arraigned so far
Two years after the killings, only 2 of the main suspects from the Ampatuan clan have been arraigned.
The key suspect in the massacre, Andal Ampatuan Jr., has not yet been arraigned. Of the 196 total suspects, only 95 have been arrested.
Malacañang wants the trial of the Maguindanao massacre be fast-tracked up, and hopes that the judiciary can do something about it.
"We would wish that the judicial process be fast-tracked. This case is not in the hands entirely of the executive branch or the prosecution. It is within the discretion of the trial judge, it is within the discretion of the judiciary," Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Wednesday.
"We ourselves in the prosecution, we ourselves in the executive branch, we share the public's concern that this case is taking so long, and we would hope that the judiciary would take a second look at the pace of the trial so that justice would be obtained within this term, within the administration of President Aquino," he added.
Remembering the slain
Activities were held nationwide Wednesday to remember the victims in the massacre, particularly the 32 journalists who were slain. One other journalist remains missing.
In Ampatuan town where the killings occurred, hundreds of people, including the victims' relatives, attended an interfaith event and offered flowers and candles. White balloons and doves were also released.
In Metro Manila, activist groups and media organizations led by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, and the National Press Club held similar events.
A mass and candle-lighting ceremony was held for the victims and a memorial marker was unveiled to honor their memory.
The victims' kin, journalists, and activists also marched on España to Mendiola to highlight their call for the Aquino administration to ensure swift justice is served.
ABS-CBN anchors Ted Failon and Korina Sanchez said at the start of TV Patrol's November 23 newscast that the Kapamilya network was one with other media organizations in commemorating the 2nd year after Maguindanao massacre, the worst violence ever perpetrated against journalists worldwide.
Int'l Day to End Impunity
Journalists worldwide are also marking November 23 as the first International Day to End Impunity, with the massacre becoming the focus of campaigns for justice for slain media workers in various countries.
"Two years on, dozens of suspects remain at large, including members of the Ampatuan family. The trials have been painfully slow, and attempts to subvert the judicial process - with bribes, threats and intimidation of families and witnesses - continue. The Ampatuans have been linked to at least 56 other killings over the past 20 years," the International Federation of Journalists and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange said in a letter campaign
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 65 media workers who have been killed in the Philippines since 1992 have yet to find justice as their killers have remained at large.
The CPJ said only 7 of the 72 total cases of journalists' murders in the Philippines have been solved since 1992.
The Senate on Wednesday also adopted a resolution declaring November 23 every year as the national day to end impunity.
Resolution 642, filed by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, calls on Filipinos to never forget the Ampatuan massacre.
Use 'Arroyo standard'
Activist group Akbayan said prosecutors should use the speed of former President Gloria Arroyo's arrest for alleged electoral sabotage as its "gold standard" in dispensing justice to the victims of the Ampatuan massacre.
"Now that the wheels of justice have made huge strides against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, we should now ensure the same against all those who were given the widest latitude to commit crimes under her term. We cannot expect to call the triumph of justice against Arroyo complete if we cannot say the same against the Ampatuans," the group said.
"An Arroyo conviction, which is the greatest statement of repudiation of Arroyo's legacy of corruption and impunity, can only be possible with an Ampatuan conviction," the group said.
"It should not be forgotten that this crime was perpetrated during the term of Arroyo and [those] who committed it empowered by her," Akbayan said.
"It was Arroyo who gave them the resources and license to terrorize the citizenry of Maguindanao. It was her impunity and brazen violation of rights that inspired and emboldened the Ampatuans to believe that they are above the law. Their warlordism reflected the same kind of rule that the Arroyo administration dispensed. As much as this is a case against the Ampatuans, this is also a case against Arroyo."
Relatives of some of the massacre victims on Tuesday sued Arroyo on Tuesday for arming and supporting the alleged murderers, their lawyer said.
The civil suit is seeking P15 million in damages from the former President.
"She enabled the Ampatuans to do what they did by arming them, by legitimizing their private army, by giving them aid and by giving them political support," Roque said. - with reports from Jing Castañeda, Jeff Canoy, Willard Cheng, and Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News; Lore Mae Andong, ABS-CBN News Central Mindanao; Agence France-Presse
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