Not Spartans nor were meant to be
The Ampatuan Massacre was 11 years ago and that case is far from resolved
There is a marker at the National Press Club commemorating the 32 journalists killed in the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre, where, at least from news reports, members of the club light candles on the 23rd of each November.
"GO TELL THE WORLD JOURNALISTS KNOW HOW TO DIE," it proclaims in gold letters on black before naming the media workers it calls martyrs of the Maguindanao Massacre*.
I do not know where they got the quote from, but it has always reminded me of "Oh stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that here we lie, obedient to their laws we lie" inscribed on a monument to the Battle of Thermopylae, that law being fighting to the death as Spartans were taught to.
A more likely inspiration — itself likely inspired by Thermopylae — is the "Go Spread the Word Tell the Passers-By That in This Little World Men Knew how to Die" inscribed on a wall at the Manila Police District, which is a short distance from the NPC building in Intramuros.
Probably meant to highlight that the 32 were killed while on duty as media workers, I have also always felt that it was a little off.
We're not supposed to know how to die. We don’t even have shields to come back behind or, failing that, on.
That's really not part of the deal and the fact that 191 of us have been killed — 19 so far under this administration — should not be a testament to how brave we are or unmindful of the risks.**
If anything, that number is a sign, not of our doing our duty, but of government not doing its.
The most recent victim, Ronnie Villamor of Masbate, was killed by soldiers on November 14 in a supposed "encounter," or clash, while they were investigating reports of armed men in the area.
On November 10, Pangasinan broadcaster Virgilio Maganes was shot dead in front of his home in a second attempt on his life since 2016, when he survived by playing dead.
"His death is an indictment on this government's empty boast that press freedom is alive and well in the country," the National Union of Journalists, of which I am a member as was Maganes, said in reaction to his murder.
As with many other crimes, the wheels of justice have been slow for murdered journalists and even the families of victims of a one as horrific as the Ampatuan massacre waited for 10 years for a guilty verdict for the accused.
Lawyer Nena Santos, a private prosecutor in the case, warned on Monday — the anniversary of the killings — that the case is far from resolved.
The Ampatuans are appealing the conviction and many of the accused in the case remain at large.
The Department of Justice has also indicted eight more — and cleared 40 others — in a "second wave" of suspects that will likely mean another lengthy trial.
"With the resolution on the second wave, I feel like (the DOJ) is not on our side," Santos said. "It's like they just granted me the eight, but cleared the 40."
"The struggles with the DOJ are far more huge now compared to before because I used to feel the DOJ was on our side, that they supported the case. That was proven to be true during the terms of Secretaries (Leila) De Lima and (Benjamin) Caguioa. But right now, I can't read their motives anymore," she also said.
Salvador Panelo, a former lawyer for the Ampatuans, is now chief presidential legal counsel. Harry Roque, a former private prosecutor in the case, is now presidential spokesperson and said Monday that “justice has already been served under the Duterte administration.”
He adds as a caveat: “At least the Ampatuan brothers are now imprisoned.”
We can hold commemorations every year and call for justice for the massacre victims and for all other media workers who have been killed and none of those will be as effective at curbing attacks on journalists than knowing that those who do will be caught, prosecuted and sent to prison.
The point, I feel, in making noise about these attacks is not to lionize those who have been killed (and, by extension, ourselves) but to pressure government to make sure that we will never have to put up another monument again.
* It has been common, but by no means universal, practice to refer to it as the Ampatuan Massacre in reference to the town where the killings happened and the members of the political clan behind it
** We’re not at all, generally. As this Vice article says, It's Super Dangerous to Be a Journalist in the Philippines.
More on the massacre and the families’ continuing fight for justice here:
11 years and a historic ruling later: Ampatuan massacre kin's fight for justice not over