"While BS Aquino “Impunity King” is still in power, there will be no room for justice especially with the release on bail of Sajid Ampatuan, one of the perpetrators in the Ampatuan massacre. The rest of the perpetrators in the Ampatuan massacremay be released in no time,”said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general said on the release of the son of Andal Ampatuan Sr., one of the principal suspects in the case.
"While BS Aquino “Impunity King” is still in power, there will be no room for justice especially with the release on bail of Sajid Ampatuan, one of the perpetrators in the Ampatuan massacre. The rest of the perpetrators in the Ampatuan massacremay be released in no time,”said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general said on the release of the son of Andal Ampatuan Sr., one of the principal suspects in the case.
If one asks about impunity in the Philippines, the images of the incident called the Ampatuan massacre would come to mind: dead bodies cut in half, the infamous back hoe that hauled the dead bodies in dirt trying to bury them. It was on November 23, 2009 when more than a hundred policemen, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and other family members killed and tried to bury 58 individuals, including media practitioners, lawyers and familyof Ampatuan’s political rival, Ishmael Mangudadatu.Through the years of trial, key witnesses to this heinous crime were murdered.
"It is not just the manner of killing, but also the shameless coddling of these warlord allies of the Gloria Arroyo government that again put the Philippines on top of the impunity map. Then, under the BS Aquino government, the Ampatuans are starting to be freed," Palabay said.
Palabay said that “despite the people’s outrage and after more than five years after the massacre, Executive Order 546, one of the key government policies that spurred the use of paramilitary groups and private armies by political warlords such as the Ampatuans, has yet to be revoked by Pres. Noynoy Aquino.”
Former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Executive Order 546 allowed local officials to employ members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGU) and Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO) to purportedly address insurgency in the country. Karapatan said that the Aquino administration did not heed the callsto revoke the said policy by international institutions, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council in its recommendations in the 2012 Universal Periodic Review on the Philippines and the European Parliament. “BS Aquino even legitimized and expanded the EO, giving free rein to paramilitary groups and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to commit heinous crimes such as the Ampatuan massacre," Palabay said.
"BS Aquino’s reign of terror and impunity is yet another reason why justice and accountability for human rights victims will never be achieved under his administration. More families of the victims, media practitioners, even press freedom fighters will be more convinced to join in the call for Aquino’s resignation," Palabay concluded.###