CATHY Nunez and Ma. Reynafe Momay-Castillo thought the world had forgotten the Ampatuan Massacre 15 years ago.
Instead, hundreds of journalists and activists joined rallies. They lit candles across Manila and Cagayan de Oro on Saturday to mark the 15th anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre — one of the single deadliest attacks in the world.
“I thought you and the world have forgotten us,” Nunez told reporters who gathered at the Press Freedom Monument in Cagayan de Oro City.
Nunez is the mother of UNTV reporter Victor Nunez, one of the 33 journalists killed in the massacre in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, Maguindanao del Sur 15 years ago.
Castillo said it is the unity from the journalists that the families of the journalists killed in the Ampatuan Massacre draw strength in their struggle to seek justice.
“The fight continues and will continue until we get the justice the victims deserve,” Castillo, who is now based in the US, said in the text message she sent.
Castillo is the daughter of Ampatuan Massacre victim Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, a photojournalist whose body was not found.
Although his body is not found, Momay is considered the 33rd journalist killed and the 58th victim of the 2009 massacre.
“We maintained that the 58 victims including the 33 journalists killed in the massacre received only partial justice. The NUJP Cagayan de Oro vows to support the victims' families and urge the government to deliver full justice to the victims,” Sheila Butlig of the NUJP Cagayan de Oro said.
Lawyer Beverly Musni of the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao also assailed the slow justice system and urged the government to dismantle warlords in the country.
“You the media are all given the responsibility to tell the truth and most of the time, the truth is associated with martyrdom,” Monsignor Perseus Cabunoc, parish priest of barangay Lapasan said.
Cabunoc led the candle lighting after the Mass at the Press Freedom Monument in Cagayan de Oro on Saturday.
