Massacre widows can’t forgive Andal
Widows of victims of the country’s worst political massacre yesterday said they could not forgive Andal Ampatuan Sr., a powerful warlord in Maguindanao who was one of the main accused in the carnage of 58 people, after he died in hospital.
Ampatuan, patriarch of the powerful Ampatuan clan, was among 100 people on trial for the killings of 58 people, including 32 journalists, in Maguindanao in November 2009.
He died at the National Kidney Transplant Institute in Quezon City late Friday, days after he slipped into a coma following a heart attack, his lawyers said.
Ampatuan was suffering from advanced liver cancer and was comatose since Monday.
“I could not forgive him because he has shown no remorse, and the fact that the case has dragged on adds to our pain,” said Gloria Teodoro, whose newspaper reporter husband died in the carnage.
“When I saw news of his death, I had mixed emotions. I was happy that he’s dead, but sad because we have not gotten justice,” the 46-year-old widow said.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife Genalyn and two sisters were among those killed in the carnage, said their family would continue to seek justice regardless of Ampatuan’s death.
“Regardless of his death, however, the Mangudadatu family and other families of the victims of the Ampatuan Maguindanao massacre case will continue to seek justice for the 58 persons who were gruesomely killed,” he added.
The brutal massacre, one of the world’s deadliest attacks against media workers, saw some shot in their genitals before they were buried in a hilltop grave using an excavator.
The brazenness of the murders shocked the world and reinforced perceptions of a culture of impunity in the Philippines, where the powerful believe they can commit serious crimes and escape unpunished.
The trial has moved excruciatingly slowly, with allegations of bribery, potential witnesses being killed or threatened, and delaying maneuvers by the clan’s lawyers.
Many of the victims’ widows have been left struggling, their children forced to drop out of school due to poverty.
“Justice would have been better served for both our clients and the defendants if a decision were reached before Andal Ampatuan Sr. passed away,” said Harry Roque, a lawyer for the victims’ families.
“We know that the search for justice continues and we will persevere on behalf of our clients,” he said in a statement.
‘He should have paid for his sins’
Merly Perante, who lost her husband, also a journalist, in the massacre, said she did not know how the case would proceed after the Ampatuan patriarch’s death.
“I cannot accept that he died due to sickness, that he died before he can be convicted. He should have paid for his sins in jail,” she said.
“It is very difficult to forgive him. I leave it to the Lord to judge him.”
Ampatuan ru led Maguindanao as governor for a decade with a private army tolerated by then- president Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, who used his forces as a buffer against Muslim insurgents.
“Money talks and money walks in our case,” Teodoro said, as she dared President Aquino to fulfill his promise of concluding the massacre trial before he steps down in June next year.
“I want to hear him say it, that he will help us find justice,” she said, referring to the President’s annual State of the Nation Address on July 27.
Aquino is also frustrated with the pace of the trial, according to presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte.
“We understand their frustration. We share in their frustration,” Valte said.
Valte cited the huge number of accused, some of whom are still at large, as one of the reasons for the delay.
“The verdict in this case will be handed down by the presiding judge, not the President, but (he) is doing everything to speed up the case.”
The Ampatuan patriarch’s death extinguished his criminal liability but the trial for the rest of the accused would proceed, she said.
A relative, Rajah Buayan town mayor Zamzamin Ampatuan, confirmed the former governor’s demise past 11 p.m. Friday while at the ICU of the NKTI.
“Let’s look at his life as a lesson, a backdrop to where man should lead himself. Justice has its own natural course,” the mayor wrote on a Facebook thread about Ampatuan’s death.
His remains were briefly shown to sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy at their maximum-security cells at Camp Bagong Diwa before the body was flown to Maguindanao, jail bureau spokeswoman Supt. Carolina Borrinaga said.
“He (Andal Jr.) opened the box and hugged his father,” according to family lawyer Salvador Panelo. “He was crying.”
Other members of the family followed, including sons Zaldy and Anwar Sr., and grandsons Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid.
The body of the clan patriarch was flown to Cotabato City on a 9 a.m. Philippine Airlines flight, Panelo said.
From there, the elder Ampatuan’s remains was brought to their mansion in Shariff Aguak.
Ampatuan Sr. will be buried according to Muslim traditions and the family had asked to be allowed to grieve in private, their lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said.
Panelo added the deceased 74- year- old clan patriarch was to be buried in the compound of their mansion in Maguindanao in accordance with Muslim rites.
Relatives of Ampatuan said his remains would be buried within 24 hours at 3 p.m. yesterday in a private compound in Shariff Aguak, where a family mansion is located.
Panelo said the family has requested him to issue an official statement on their behalf.
“They want to thank the authorities for allowing their father to be brought to NKTI for treatment. They would also like to thank the doctors for taking care of him, as well as the court for allowing them to visit him,” Panelo said.
“Finally, they would like to ask for understanding from the public, especially their detractors,” he added. “They are grieving. They lost a member of their family.”