By RONALYN V. OLEA
“While we respect the view that a trial by publicity can be detrimental to the accused, we fail to see how that can happen in this case. The Ampatuan case is extremely important for the public, the media and the relatives of the victims. The media and the public — particularly those who live outside Metro Manila and who can only follow the proceedings through the media — need to know exactly what is going on inside the courtroom.”
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
In this Q&A, Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town, Maguindanao, talks about the Ampatuan massacre and how the Ampatuans ruled the province. “They made business out of the votes. They extorted money out of the senatorial candidates who were campaigning in Maguindanao by selling votes to them,” he said. He also wished that there would be no whitewash in the case against them.
And this impunity would not end for as long as Arroyo wields power whether as president, congresswoman, or prime minister. Impunity would also persist if Arroyo’s clone cum anointed one, Gilbert Teodoro, emerges the winner in the presidential elections by some stroke of luck, especially of the Garci kind.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The failure of investigators to secure the crime scene, the apparent contamination of forensic evidence, and the weak rebellion case filed against the perpetrators have led people to believe that there is a high probability that the Ampatuan clan would walk away with the murder of 57 people, even as the case has generated a strong international concern.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO The Ampatuans’ rise to the peak of political power was in no small part due to their ties with the military. In a most ironic twist, the military proposed the extension of martial law in Maguindanao until the 2010 elections purportedly to teach the Ampatuans “how to run peaceful and credible elections.”
When it comes to human rights and democracy, the Arroyo government never fails to provide ironies.
Critics Slam Martial Law as Ruse, Cover-Up
The Cordillera region is not spared from state-perpetuated and state-supported political violence, according to the CPA, citing the provinces of Abra, Apayao and Kalinga as having a history of election-related and politically motivated killings and other forms of violence allegedly allowed to happen through powerful politicians and warlords with goons and private armies.
By AYI MUALLAM
On Wednesday, hundreds of Filipino journalists and activists, along with several of their colleagues from other countries, marched to Mendiola to mark the “Global Day of Action Against Impunity.” The journalists and activists demanded an end to impunity and blamed the Arroyo regime for the rash of killings of activists and journalists nationwide. Listen now
Ampatuan Massacre and Culture of Impunity
Today, hundreds of Filipino journalists and activists march to protest the Ampatuan massacre, in which 57 people — 31 of them journalists — were slaughtered in the worst election-related violence in the history of the Philippines. Follow today’s events through Bulatlat’s Twitter feeds and the occasional live video: Tell us what you think about the…