MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – Journalist Kaiser Jan Fuentes was only a boy when the 2009 massacre in Ampatuan town in the now-defunct Maguindanao province, shocked the nation. He still recalls the chilling images on television: 58 people, 32 of them journalists, killed in cold blood. At the time, it was just another horrifying headline.

Now an adult, Fuentes stands as a journalist himself at MyTV Cebu. But it wasn’t until he stood on the site of that massacre that the grim reality truly hit him: the peril that looms over those who choose the path of journalism in the Philippines, one where the pursuit of truth can, at times, come at a high cost.

On Thursday, November 21, he stood among 24 journalists at the massacre site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, the exact same place where the bloodbath took place 15 years ago, long before the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The impoverished village is now part of the BARMM province of Maguindanao del Sur, one of two new political territories carved out of the now-defunct Maguindanao in 2022.

Lighting candles and offering prayers, they honored the dead, including the 32 journalists caught in the November 23, 2009, carnage.

The group, many of whom were from the Visayas, was part of the “Inside BARMM: A Walk Through the Bangsamoro Region” project of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism in collaboration with the Davao-based MindaNews, Media Impact Philippines, and International Media Support.

“The day it happened, I was 10. I remember watching it on TV. Now, I’m 25 years old. As a full-fledged journalist, I know that [we], in the field, are experiencing injustices. It may be in other forms. I hope that [there will be] no more violence…. I hope that we, journalists, are treated well,” Fuentes said.

Some journalists couldn’t hold back tears as they stood on the ground where cries for help and mercy had been swallowed by silence 15 years ago. It was there that victims were riddled with bullets, mutilated, and left in a horrifying tableau of savagery.

It was a politically charged attack aimed at a group en route to file the certificate of candidacy (COC) for Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. His decision to run for governor, a challenge to the well-entrenched Ampatuan political dynasty in the then-undivided Maguindanao province, set the stage for the bloodbath.

The journalists in the convoy covering the event became collateral damage in a blood-soaked quest by the Ampatuans to hold on to power. The massacre remains the deadliest single attack on journalists ever recorded.

In tears, Wenilyn Sabalo of SunStar Cebu said a prayer for accountability: “Lord, sana po ’yung mga gumawa nito ay hindi po makatulog, hindi magpatuloy ang life nila without taking accountability.” (Lord, I pray that those responsible for this will not find peace, that they won’t be able to go on witg their lives without taking accountability.)

Justice in its fullest form remains elusive. Fifteen years have passed since the bloodbath, but for the victims’ families, the fight for justice is far from over. While 44 people, including members of the Ampatuan clan, have already been convicted, 88 remain fugitives, still free from the consequences of their role in the brutal killings.

The fate of a photojournalist in the convoy, Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, remains unknown. His family has never been able to honor his memory with a candlelight vigil because he remains a missing person. 

A judge has officially recognized 57 victims, dismissing the Momay case due to a lack of evidence. Without a body, there is no evidence of murder, and for Momay’s family, the search for justice continues without resolution.

Iloilo-based Tara Yap, a journalist with the Manila Bulletin, said: “I realized that there is still no full justice because the others involved were not held accountable. It saddens me that our job as journalists, our safety, is at stake.”

Yap added that the brutality of the attack was unimaginable, and the journalists in the convoy that day “did not deserve to die” for doing their work.

In Cagayan de Oro, organized journalists are preparing for a public gathering in time for the 15th anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre on Saturday afternoon, November 23.

Froilan Gallardo, president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club, said journalists, including members of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), would light candles at the Press Freedom Monument at the Misamis Oriental capitol grounds across the COPC Building.

Gallardo noted that while the courts have convicted some of the perpetrators, his group lamented that full justice remained elusive.

He said the 2009 massacre has remained as a reminder of the fragile state of press freedom in the country and the enduring culture of impunity.

“Fifteen years on, we are still witnessing continuing media killings, with the recent death of broadcaster Maria Vilma Rodriguez in Zamboanga City,” said the COPC in a statement. “Media workers and journalists continue to face threats, harassment, and trumped-up charges while simply carrying out their duties.”

In October, Rodriguez was shot three times in front of her family at her store and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Zamboanga City. Police arrested a suspect in the killing the same day.

In a statement, the COPC also cited the ongoing threats and harassment faced by media workers, ranging from red-tagging to fabricated charges in court, all while performing their duties.

The group cited the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Global Impunity Index which has ranked the Philippines 9th for 17 consecutive years, where the killers of journalists are often left unpunished.

The COPC stressed that the ranking showed the continuing struggles of Filipino journalists, who, despite working in a democratic society, are constantly confronted with the threat of impunity.

“As we observe the anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre, we are calling to the public to be our partner in pushing for a freer press and accountability to those who wish to suppress our freedom of speech,” read part of the COPC statement. – Rappler.com