I visited a funeral parlor in Marbel. Some bodies were not identified yet. I talked with the relatives, many parlor-hopping, visiting every funeral parlor and looking at mangled bodies hoping to identify missing loved ones. I motored back to the 601st Army brigade headquarters. We were frantic for some sworn statements so the legal process could start. It was the
On the Deadly Trail: the Ampatuan Massacre Last of three parts Part 3: Retrieving the core values of journalism by Germelina A. Lacorte/MindaNews DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 November) — In a three-part series published in January 2010, MindaNews columnist Patricio Diaz
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/24 November) — Journalists in Bukidnon yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre with an exhortation to learn from the lessons of a carnage that left 58 people dead, 32 of them media workers. “They may
In Davao City, a kongko refers to someone who asks favor, oftentimes cash, from sources after an interview. The term, coined in the 1990s, refers to someone who poses as a media person to extort cash from politicians or businessmen.
2nd of a 4-part series Nov 24 (Tuesday) At the break of dawn, Sec Bert Gonzales and I took the earliest flight to Gen Santos City. The medical checkup can wait, both I and Beth agreed. She’s been used to
MASSACRE SITE, Ampatuan, Maguindanao (MindaNews/23 November) — Justice Secretary Leila de Lima assured residents of Maguindanao thatthey have government’s commitment “to do all that we can” to convince the Supreme Court to allow live coverage of the trial” of the
1st of 4 parts (Note: Right after the Maguindanao incident, Dureza, then presidential adviser for Mindanao, wrote a personal account as “crisis manager” which was published and carried by media. Now back in the private sector and actively managing Advocacy
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22 Nov) – A year after the Ampatuan massacre that killed 58 people, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) hit President Aquino for failing to dismantle private armies which continue to perpetuate the state of
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/22 Nov) – Members of the Bukidnon news media are commemorating the first anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre with a mass on November 23 starting at 4 a. m. at the San Isidro Cathedral. The Bukidnon commemoration of
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/21 November) – A homemade bomb exploded in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao at 6:30 Sunday morning, injuring two persons two days before the first anniversary of the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 persons in neighboring Ampatuan town.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 November) – More calls for live coverage of the hearings in the multiple murder cases filed on behalf of the victims of the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindnao have been sounded off not only by
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/12 November) – Police operatives in Sarangani Province arrested another former militiaman from Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao who was allegedly among the 189 persons identified by a Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) as suspects in
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/4 Nov) — Relatives of former policemen accused of participating in the Ampatuan Massacre last year are appealing to the government, through the Truth Commission, to conduct a separate independent investigation and hasten trial of their cases. The
ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews/30 October) – “Saan kami pupunta? Sinong tutulong sa amin?” (Where will we go? Who will help us?) Reynafe Momay-Castillo has been asking these questions since November 29, 2009 when government workers ended their search for victims
BULUAN, Maguindanao (MindaNews/10 October) – Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu is tired of the “negatibong imahe” (negative image) of Maguindanao. The country’s third poorest province, he said in his State of the Province Adress (SOPA) Sunday morning to mark his 100th
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/08 October) – Police and Army personnel in Sarangani Province captured Thursday a fugitive aide of Ampatuan Massacre principal suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. who was among the 189 suspects earlier ordered arrested by a Quezon City Regional
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 September) – A self-confessed close friend of former secretary Jesus Dureza who tried to defend the latter from accusations he received P10 million for the dismissal of a rebellion case against former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan St.,
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/15 Sept) — Former press secretary Jesus Dureza today laughed off accusations he received millions of pesos for his alleged role in the dismissal of the rebellion case against former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. Ampatuan Sr., a
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/03 September) — Police operatives in Sarangani province captured Thursday a fugitive policeman who was among the 189 suspects earlier ordered by arrested by a Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) in connection with the November 23,
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/01 August) — Maguindanao is now “going to normalcy,” police and military officials say, even as it remains under a state of emergency nine months after the massacre of November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town. Police Sr. Supt.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/26 August) – A private prosecutor for the families of several victims in the November 2009 Ampatuan massacre has questioned the release of several police patrol vehicles and passenger vans that were earlier recovered in connection with
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/24 August) — Fifty-eight seedlings of the hardwood Lawaan species were planted on Monday at the foot of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, particularly at the watershed of the Kansal falls in Sitio Lapaan, Barangay Perez as
Manila, August 17, 2010—The opening trial date for 17 men accused of murder and other crimes in the killing of 57 people—32 of them journalists or media workers—in southern Philippines in November 2009 has been set for September 1. Quezon
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao (MindaNews/11 August) — Five weeks into the new administration, two provincial capitols await occupants, as the new governor holds office “temporarily” in his hometown in Buluan town and the vice governor holds office “temporarily” in his hometown
DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao (MindaNews/09 August) – No entry. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee has just passed a resolution denying sanctuary to “all members of the Ampatuan family and their followers” within the MILF areas. Members of
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/25 July) – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima described it as “a strategy of delay and pattern of harassment.” Eight months after the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, only 12 of the 197 accused of
TACURONG CITY (MindaNews/24 July) — “Never again.” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima assured families of the victims in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre that justice would prevail and that no such massacre can happen again. In a meeting with the families of the 58 victims at the Genalin Forest Garden Resort here Saturday to commemorate the 8th month since the massacre, De Lima, who had met with the victims’ families months ago while serving as chair of the Commission on Human Rights, said, “the clarion call/battlecry is – NEVER AGAIN. Never again should our people be traumatized by horrific, bestial events such as what occurred in the hilly area in Barangay Salman, municipality of Ampatuan eight months ago. Never again should the powerful, corrupt and evil be allowed to elude or evade accountability.”
TACURONG CITY (MindaNews/24 July) – Wanted: better printers for “Wanted” posters. None of the “Wanted Maguindanao Massacre suspsects” posters or tarpaulins showing the photographs of a substantial number out of the 189 “at large” suspects in the November 23, 2009
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/23 July) – Eight months after the massacre of at least 58 persons, 32 of them from the media, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 12 (Southwestern Mindanao) has turned to the public for
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/07 July) – Jail officials here have sought for the immediate transfer of a detained former police official of Maguindanao to another jail facility in nearby Korondal City in South Cotabato reportedly due to serious security concerns.
The lawyer of Ampatuan Mayor Zacaria Sangki sustained injuries when armed men fired at his vehicle as it was cruising along Sinsuat Avenue here around 9:30 a.m. The lawyer, Richard Piteste, was with his driver and two soldier-escorts when two armed men fired at his Toyota Revo.
BULUAN, Maguindanao (MindaNews/02 July) — Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu will convene his Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) next week to discuss the security situation and recommend the lifting or retention of a state of emergency over the province.
Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu today ordered the police to “enforce the law” by arresting the perpetrators of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre “who are still hiding” in some towns in Maguindanao.
The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao will submit to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez this week its report on the lifestyle check it did on the government officials among the Ampatuans who are presently detained for the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao that left 58 persons dead, 32 of them from the media.
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/25 June) – US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas today issued a statement condemning the murder of Suwaib Upham, a key witness in the November 23, 2009 massacre of some 60 people, including 32 media workers
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/24 June) — A vital witness to the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao that claimed the lives of 58 persons, including 32 journalists, was shot dead, a lawyer for several of the victims’ families said.
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/23 June) — A new “explosive witness” to the infamous Maguindanao Massacre will come out in the open soon to nail the Ampatuan clan for their alleged involvement in the killings, according to Maguindanao governor-elect Esmael G. Mangudadatu.
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao—In the province where the worst pre-election violence in Philippine history happened on Nov. 23, there was reason to celebrate when the worst-case scenarios on election day did not happen.
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao (MindaNews/20 June) — Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu will take his oath of office as the new governor on June 30 and deliver his inaugural address in his hometown Buluan, 40 kilometers from the provincial capitol here.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 June) – The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has asked President-elect Benigno Simeon Cojuango Aquino to “immediately launch a probe into the circumstances surrounding last November’s massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindano, which it described as “the
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/24 May) — Journalists here marked the sixth month of the Ampatuan Massacre with songs, candle-lighting and calls for vigilance during a concert at the Press Freedom monument along Velez Street Sunday night. Organized by the
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/23 May) – Reporters and cameramen of UNTV in North Cotabato led the commemoration on Sunday of the sixth month since the November 23 massacre of 58 persons in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, 32 of them from the media, four
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao (MindaNews/15 May) – The Ampatuan patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., lost his bid to become vice governor of Maguindanao but ten other clan members implicated in the November 23, 2009 massacre, won in Monday’s elections. At least
