Negros Press Club urges Pnoy: Solve Maguindanao massacre

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines — The Negros Press Club (NPC) is urging President Benigno Aquino III to solve the Maguindanao Massacre by bringing justice to the 58 victims, 32 of whom were Filipino journalists.

NPC members lighted candles and offered prayers at the Marker for Fallen Journalists at the Bacolod Plaza in front of the NPC Building Wednesday in commemoration of the Maguindanao Massacre on November 23 two years ago, which was considered one of the darkest hours in the country's history for Filipino journalists.

In a resolution, the NPC, led by Juan Elmer Ubaldo, said the club has asked Aquino to "use all authority under his office to expedite all proceedings related to the bringing of justice to all victims and put an end to the culture of impunity in the country."

The anger and hatred over the killing of innocent civilians and members of the Fourth Estate could only be appeased once justice is finally served, the resolution read.

The NPC is one with the members of the Fourth Estate in calling for the immediate delivery of justice not only to the victims of Maguindanao Massacre but also to all victims of injustice, it added.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Negros Occidental Chapter also held activities Wednesday to commemorate the second year of the Maguindanao Massacre.

NUJP-Negros Occidental interim chairman Julius Mariveles said: "This is not only an activity for journalists, this is an activity for those who want to protest the prevailing culture of impunity that has led to the continued killing of journalists."

Mariveles also called on the government to take steps to hasten the resolution of the case now pending before a regional trial court in Manila. Members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, have been charged in court for the crime but the case has largely been delayed due to alleged maneuverings of some groups, he said.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan said, two years after the Maguindanao massacre, 103 of the 196 suspects have not been arrested, and only two of the principal suspects have been arraigned. "We decry the lack of accountability. We decry the injustice," she said.

In a criminal offense as gruesome and condemnable as the Maguindanao massacre, the failure of government institutions to expedite justice allows impunity to continue," Ilagan said in a press statement. "It is not surprising that the killing of journalists and activists persist under the Aquino administration," Ilagan added.  (FREEMAN)