Death came as trial drags
Seven years after members of the powerful Ampatuan political clan and their men murdered 58 people in broad daylight in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, relatives of the victims are losing hope that they will get justice in their lifetime. Some of them have died without seeing the perpetrators punished as court proceedings in Quezon City have dragged.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY— Some of the relatives of the journalists who perished in the Nov. 23, 2009, Maguindanao massacre, have died without seeing justice served.
Grace Morales, wife of slain journalist Rossell Morales, said a number of the relatives of the 32 slain journalists “had joined the Creator and may have already reunited with their loved ones up there.”
“But the hope to see justice here is zero,” Morales said.
Nancy de la Cruz, mother of journalist Gina de la Cruz, died alone in her house on Sept. 8.
When the Inquirer visited her at her home last year, Nancy, then 65, was suffering from hypertension and arthritis. She was living alone in a house without water and electricity.
Her eldest granddaughter, Jergen, got married and went to live with her husband. Her teenage granddaughters, Jergelyn and Jergisellie, were under the custody of the regional social welfare office.
A grandson, Ralp Genus, died from diabetes at the age of 9 in 2014.
Jergen said she had to leave because she had to take care of her own family. She said her grandmother died without getting the justice she had been demanding.
“We are still waiting for that to happen,” Jergen told the Inquirer in an interview in Buluan, Maguindanao province.
Mario Cadagdagon, father of slain photojournalist Jepon Cadagdagon, died of illness in October 2013.
Conviction of the accused
Jepon was a newly hired photographer of Saki News based in General Santos City when he was killed along with 31 other journalists and 26 followers of a local politician in Maguindanao in the worst election violence in the history of the Philippines.
Morales said Cadagdagon’s wish was to see through the case, “and witness the actual conviction of the accused.”
“He died not getting his wish,” Morales said.
Femy Momay, wife of journalist Reynaldo Momay, died of colon cancer in June last year.
Reynaldo was the photographer of General Santos Citybased newspaper Midland Review and was the last to be identified among the massacre victims.
Maria Reynafe Castillo, Momay’s daughter, said she felt bad that the people fighting hard for justice were dying one by one.
“My mother was the one regularly attending the hearings when I left to work in the United States,” Castillo said.
But those still alive hope that one day justice will be served.
“We are frustrated, but we are still hopeful,” Jergen said.