Photos by MARIO IGNACIO, CHIT ESTELLA and AVIGAIL OLARTE
MARKING the first year of the Ampatuan massacre, over a hundred journalists and human rights activists on Tuesday marched to Mendiola demanding justice to the slain.
Armed with posters, flags and torches, ralliers mourned for the loss of 58 civilians who perished in the fields of Sitio Masalay, Ampatuan, Maguindano on Nov. 23 last year.
The groups demanded justice to the victims of the worst incident of electoral violence in the country. They called on President Aquino to push for a speedy resolution of the case, dismantle private armies and government militias, put an end to warlordism, and investigate the possible culpability of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the incident and hundreds of extrajudicial killings under her regime.
Members of the November 23 Movement, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Philippine Human Rights Advocacies, Bayong Alyansang Makabayan, Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Klusang Mayo Uno, and Karapatan and youth groups from the University of the Philippines and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines joined the protest rally.
Earlier in the day, a group of photojournalists shaved their head before the Department of Justice in Padre Faura to commemorate the death of their colleagues. At the University of the Philippines in Diliman, students and teachers of the College of Mass Communication marched around the academic oval before going to Mendiola.
VERA Files‘ Mario Ignacio, Chit Estella and Avigail Olarte attended the events commemorating the Ampatuan Massacre and caught key moments on camera.
