(Ma. Reynafe Momay-Castillo is the daughter of Reynaldo Momay, photographer of Midland Courier in Tacurong City who was among 58 killed on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. His remains were not found. Reynafe, a registered nurse, is now based in the United States)
As someone who has undergone severe pain of loss, one can say, “it never goes away.”
Yes, it never does.
hat is why every time I would go down the memory lane of when, where and how I lost my father, the pain slowly begins to get the best of me and a shadow starts to crawl over my being.
November 23, 2009 then, November 23, 2019 now. It still feels the same.
Empty. Unrewarded. Exhausted. Disappointed.
Through the years, I never let go of the fight to seek justice. I never once thought that I am on the losing end. I still have the light of hope that the lives lost were for a cause.
My father’s life is not just a speck. He was all the father that I had. The same is quite true to the families left without a mother, a father, a friend and a colleague.
A DECADE had passed but the outcry is still the same. That is, to END IMPUNITY.
Those who have done inhumane, barbarous and vicious act of disregarding LIFE should never be exempted from punishment, because what they did deserve consequences.
A day, a month or a year of delay in the resolution of the MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE CASE will not only deny us JUSTICE but will deprive every victim and their family of a chance at REDEMPTION.
10 YEARS of WAITING TOO LONG
END IMPUNITY NOW!