Two members of the Ampatuan clan had condemned the Maguindanao massacre – publicly
Justice, they say, has been served to the orphans of the Maguindanao massacre with the court verdict handed down on Dec. 19, 2019 – after 10 years and 26 days.
The massacre of 58 people, 57 by final court count, shook the world: Life-size images of slain media workers were hung (unscreened) at a gallery of the Newseum American Museum in Washington DC. The carnage was condemned by the Senate and the House of Representatives; and also by the US Senate and House of Representatives.
(Editor’s Note: The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes convicted the Ampatuan brothers – namely Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan – of 57 counts of of murder and sentenced to 40 years without parole; 28 co-accused (including police officers) were also convicted of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to 40 years; an additional 15 were sentenced to 6-10 years for being accessories to the crime; 55 others, including Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan, brother of Zaldy and Andal Jr. and the mayor of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao, were acquitted.)
Reporters and others, including lawyers and members of the family of then gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu, were slain on Nov. 23, 2009, “by armed followers of the powerful political clan,” as most media reported, quoting TV interviews with private prosecution lawyers, partly administering sworn testimonies.
The other side of the story is told silently of many of the Ampatuans.
They say, not everyone is a member of the clan’s family branch often described in media reports as politically “powerful.”
Many are professionals or were too young to carry then the burden of the massacre’s social impact.
An early consensus among local media people was the landmark reference of the killings as the “Ampatuan Massacre,” denoting the name of the town where it happened.
Young Ampatuan professionals say they have now slowly overcome awe that had accompanied a mere mention of their family name in public.
Recently, April Ampatuan, a certified public accountant, received orders from her office superiors to backstop a Senate committee hearing resource person from the regional office of a constitutional office she works for in Davao City.
Another clan member who called then Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. as “apo” (granduncle) is an undefeated barangay chairman: Suraida Procalla Datumanong Ampatuan of Barangay Kamasi.
April’s mother Maribel, now deceased, was from Makalelong, Quezon, who traced her roots from the family of Felipe Agoncillo, a figure in Philippine history.
Two members of the Ampatuan clan had condemned the massacre – publicly.
They were former Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, in a privilege speech in a joint session of Congress receiving on Dec. 10, 2009 then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s report on a state of martial law she had declared on Dec. 4 that year.
Army Brig. Gen. Taharudin Piang Ampatuan, Datumanong’s first cousin, became the second person
in the clan who openly said the families of the victims deserved justice, mentioning the Mangudadatus in particular.
Akmad Ampatuan, acquitted in the historic court decision, has had professional heirs for a second generation after him.
One of them graduated from school of law and passed the bar examination while the father was in detention at Bicutan waiting for the court’s judgment from a decade-long court trial.
Many times, Zaldy Ampatuan mulled changing the surname officially carried by his children for probably experiencing indifference in social relations. But he was prevailed upon by relatives, including a niece who also passed the bar exam.
Zaldy, former regional governor of the then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, once said he could swear to the lives of his extended family he was never a party to any conspiracy plot that led to the murders.
Many of the young Ampatuans say they were as much burdened by the social consequences of the incident, just as the emotional pain carried by the families of those who lost their loved ones.
(The author, a Cotabato-based Manila Standard correspondent covering the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has been a an editor, writer, and researcher for over 30 years).