Speed up wheels of justice for Maguindanao Massacre victims

We urge the Philippine National Police to ensure the safety and protection of kin Maguindanao Massacre victims who have been reportedly receiving threats from anonymous entities. We also urge the Judiciary to speed up the wheels of justice in the case, which has yet to achieve more breakthroughs since Ampatuan Sr., his son, former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., his other son, Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were implicated and jailed for the massacre.

The Maguindanao Massacre case will be the benchmark of how far our justice system has progressed from previous administrations, whether we like it or not. It is then extremely urgent that we exert all efforts to resolve this case as swiftly as possible.

The massacre of 58 people three years ago, most of which are journalists, is said to be the worst political violence that took place in the Philippines in recent history.

That act was so brazen and so dastardly—it is horrifying to think that anyone is capable of doing this, and yet it happened. We must not allow this massacre be trivialized and buried in the annals of our history by the slow grind of our wheels of justice.

It isn’t only the Ampatuans and their co-accused that are on trial here, but the entire system of justice. The failure to render a timely and just judgement is an indictment on the capacity of the nation to serve justice.

On the live coverage of the Maguindanao massacre trial

We laud the Supreme Court in making public the Maguindanao massacre court proceedings. Last November 2010, we filed Resolution 186 in the Senate calling for such action saying "that it would be in the best interest of our judiciary to have transparency in the judicial process, especially in such an unprecedented case of brutality."

We believe that having live coverage would help in the process of speedy dispensation of justice as the whole world will be watching. Such transparency will help uphold the reputation of our courts and will eliminate doubts in the minds of our countrymen. The trial has dragged on for more than a year and the victims and their families are hungry for justice. This is a step towards the right direction.