RELATIVES of 13 journalists slain in the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao filed on Tuesday a landmark suit before the newly established ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to hold the Philippine government accountable for the carnage.
Their 23-page “preliminary request” urges the Jakarta-based AICHR to call on the Philippine government to ensure that the perpetrators of massacre are brought to justice and adequate reparations are made to the heirs of the victims under international law.
“Clearly, all of those responsible for the carnage are agents of the Philippine State,” they said in their suit. “Their acts in connection with the 23 November 2009 Maguindanao massacre are attributable under international law to the Republic of the Philippines.”
Represented in the suit are the families of journalists Robert “Bebot” Momay of Midland Review in Tacurong City; Joy Duhay of Goldstar Daily in Cagayan De Oro City; Santos “Jun” P. Gatchalian Jr., and Lindo Lupogan of Mindanao Gazette in Davao City; Joel V. Parcon of Prontierra News in Koronadal City; Bienvenido Legarta Jr., and Rey Merisco of Periodico Ini in Koronadala City; Napoleon Salaysay of Clearview Gazette in Cotabato City; Alejandro “Bong” Reblando of the Manila Bulletin in Manila; and Victor Nuñez, Daniel Tiamzon, Mc.Delbert Arriola and Julito Evardo of the UNTV crew in General Santos City.
“This is an unprecedented action being brought for the first time before the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights,” said lawyer Harry Roque of the Center for International Law (Centerlaw), which filed the suit on behalf of the families of the victims.
The petitioners said the suspects in the massacre—key members of the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao—could not have carried out the slaughter without the willing support of top officials of the Philippine government.
They cited the recent testimony in court of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu in the murder trial of the principal suspect in the massacre, Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr.
Mangudadatu had charged that then Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and other Palace officials knew of the violent nature of the Ampatuans but failed to stop them from bullying their political rivals in Maguindanao, the Mangudadatus.
They also faulted top Army officials—Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton, commanding general of the 6th Infantry Division, and Col. Medardo Geslani, commanding officer of the 601st Brigade—who turned down repeated requests from the Mangudadatus and members of the media to provide security escorts for the convoy led by the vice mayor’s wife Genalyn to the Commissions on Elections office in Shariff Aguak town.
The families charged that President Gloria Arroyo owed the Ampatuans many political debts, including the victory the political family assured for her through massive cheating in the 2004 presidential elections.
Being beholden to the Ampatuans, Arroyo allowed the Ampatuans to establish well-armed paramilitary units that doubled as their own private army as well as control police and military units in the area, they said.
“Clearly, there are well-founded fears that the Philippine State will be under very heavy pressure from the Ampatuans to whitewash the investigation or to cover up crucial evidence and witnesses, “said lawyer Romel Bagares, CenterLaw Executive Director. “ Thus, the need on the part of the commission to issue an urgent declaration calling on the Philippine State to abide with its obligations under international law and ensure the prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators of the massacre as well as the provision of adequate reparations, including compensation and satisfaction, to the victims and their heirs. “
Bagares said that under international law, the State is responsible for the acts of its agents deemed wrongful, even if the agents acted beyond the orders of superiors.
Roque, a professor of international law at the University of the Philippines, said a declaration by the AIHRC on the accountability of the Philippine government over the massacre is urgent, citing “a strong evidence of complicity” between the perpetrators of the massacre and key officials of the Philippine government.
Roque presides over a seven-member team of lawyers assigned by Centerlaw, a nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law in the Asian region, to represent the families of the victims in the proceedings before the AICHR. The other members of the team are Joel Ruiz Butuyan, Romel Regalado Bagares, Dexter Dizon, Allan Jones Lardizabal, Gilbert Andres and Benjamin Luis.
“What is involved in this suit is more than a political declaration,” said Roque. “A declaration from the commission means that ASEAN is serious in its quest to promote human rights in the region. It also brings to the attention of the international community the accountability of the Philippine government for the massacre.”
Petition of kin of Maguindanao massacre victims before Asean human rights body