MANILA, Philippines — As the nation commemorated the 11th anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, Malacañang expressed confidence that the suspects in the worst case of election violence and deadliest single attack on the press who remain at large would be arrested.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque noted that while members of the Ampatuan clan are now behind bars, other suspects are still free.
"Justice has been achieved under the Duterte administration. At least the Ampatuan brothers are in jail. This is still justice for the victims and the families of those who died. People who planned the Maguindanao massacre have been found guilty," Roque, a former counsel of some of the massacre victims, said at a press briefing Monday.
"There are suspects who are still at large, but they will be caught and they will be held to account before the law. We will never forget," he added.
At least 57 people, including 32 media practitioners, were killed during the 2009 massacre, which prompted former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to impose martial law in Maguindanao. The victims were on their way to a local elections office to witness the filing of the certificate of candidacy for then Buluan vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu when they were flagged and killed by armed men in Ampatuan town.
Last year, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court sentenced 28 people, including Datu Andal "Unsay" Ampatuan, Jr., Zaldy Ampatuan, and Datu Anwar, Sr. to a maximum of 40 years in prison for the massacre. Fifty six people, most of them police officers, were acquitted.
Palace confident Ampatuan massacre suspects will be arrested
This handout photo from the Supreme Court - Public Information Office (SC-PIO) taken and released on December 19, 2019 shows Andal Ampatuan Jnr (front L) and others accused of involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre waiting to hear the court's verdict at the trial venue inside a prison facility in Manila. The masterminds of the Philippines' worst political massacre were found guilty on December 19 of murdering 57 people, a rare conviction of powerful personalities in a country notorious for its culture of impunity.
AFP/SUPREME COURT - PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE, Handout