Official statement of Rep. Mangudadatu on 11th year of Maguindanao massacre

In memory of the 11th year of the Maguindanao/Ampatuan Massacre

Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wah Barakatuho!

We are once again gathered here to commemorate the tragedy that continues to bind us all for over a decade today.

They say that there is no wound that time could not heal. This could be true for some. Maybe time indeed has healed the once gaping wounds that has left us numb to the very fiber of our beings…but for most, if not all who are here with us would agree that what has transpired on that fateful November 23  morning 11 years ago is incredulously impossible to forget.

Lahat tayong nandito ay may dala-dala pa ring lungkot, pait o maging galit. And for all the atrocity, malignancy and evil that has happened that day, I still question how the perpetrators managed to hatch and carry out the deed as vile as the Maguindanao Massacre?

Na bakit nila nagawang lapastanganin at paslangin ang aking asawa at mga kapatid  kasama ang 55 pang media personalities, supporters, at inosenteng sibilyan simply because of the task at hand or that they were in a wrong place at the wrong time.

Losing our love ones that day has totally changed our lives in ways that others can only fathom and imagine. I cannot stress enough how my family was affected and how my children, who has suffered the most, contend life with grief. 

And because of this pain, walang sinuman ang pwedeng magsasabi sa atin na, “nakamit mo na ang hustisya, move on na”.

Hindi nila alam kung ano ang nasa puso at isipan natin. They do not know the pain we endure just to make it through another day. They do not know our anguish. The many sleepless, listless nights we’ve spent and many dreaded days we’ve confronted. They do not know the suffering, the fury and the anger that we once harbored in our hearts.

Kung hindi lang nanaig sa akin ang pananalig sa Diyos, ang huminahon alang-alang sa aking mga anak at umasa na makakamit din ang hustisya mula sa hukuman ay maaaring naging marahas din ang mga sumunod na pangyayari.

But through the Almighty Allah’s provisions and guidance, we have received justice of what is dubbed as the trial of the decade when Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes handed down the guilty verdict to those who malevolently planned, executed, and participated in the massacre.

This is why I am whole-heartedly and graciously grateful for this administration and for our justice system for providing for us the justice that we have elusively sought for in the past 10 years.

From day one, President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been there for us.

Kung hindi nagpahiram si Mayor Duterte noon ng helicopter, napakalaki ng posibilidad na hindi na natin nakita kung saan sila dinala at tinangkang ibaon ng mga salarin.

Kaya sa aming mahal na Pangulong Duterte, maraming, maraming, Maraming salamat po, Mr. President! Tanggapin ninyo ang aming marubdob at walang humpay na pasasalamat sa iyong mga tulong at maging sa tulong ng iyong administrayon.

To Judge Reyes, thank you for your exemplary bravery for taking this case. Thank you for standing up and for courageously seeing this case to its end when your predecessors could not.

I would also like to extend my thanks to the surviving victims and supporters – especially the members of the media who stood by us and are continuously standing up with us through all these years. Isa din po kayo na naging lakas ko para ituloy ang laban na ito.

Sana ay patuloy pa rin tayong magsama-sama dahil hindi pa tapos ang ating laban. Umaapela pa rin ang mga may sala at maaaring sa isang kisap-mata ay maglaho ang lahat ng ating pagsisikap na makamit ang hustisya.

I encourage and ask for your vigilance and cooperation in holding the fort for the sake of our loved ones – especially to media practitioners who has lost 32 of their colleagues in the field. Let us never allow such atrocity to happen ever again in our country.

Ang ating kalaban ay mga tuso. We should never let our guards down for  like foxes in the henhouse, they prey on the weak and helpless.  Wag na nating hayaan na madagdagan pa ang kanilang mga biktima sa pamamagitan ng suhol at pangako. Huwag na huwag. Huwag na huwag.

The failure to bring all 80 suspects to trial, including police officers and soldiers also poses a great risk for the victims’ family members. Our witnesses too are still plagued by threats and has had several brushes with deaths even after the verdict was affixed – and this will continue on as long as these suspects remain free. 

Kaya’t huwag po tayong magsawang humingi ng awa at proteksyon sa Diyos at manalangin na sila ay madakip sa lalo’t madaling panahon.

Lastly, join me in pious prayers for the continued healing of our hearts and of our land. Let us all continue praying for peace to reign in Maguindanao at sana ay muling mamayani ang katahimikan sa ating bayan.

Maraming salamat, mga kaibigan and may God continue to guide us!