ALLIANCE NEWS
March 21, 2015

STATEMENT OF CONCERN FOR JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRES OF 2009 AND 2015, JUSTICE NOW!

In November 2009, 58 people including 34 media person were massacred in Ampatuan, Maguindanao to prevent Esmael Mangudadatu from filing his candidacy for the May 2010 Elections.

This was called the worst day for the world press because on single day, the free press lost 34 persons in that infamous massacre in 2009. For almost five years, there has been no justice for the massacre victims for the wheels of justice grinds exceedingly slow.

But the biggest slap to the faces of he Filipinos was when the court released one of the suspected killers, Sajid Amapatuan (one of the sons of the mastermind Governor Ampatuan) when he posted bail in millions one week ago. What kind of justice is this?

But again, seven years later, 67 people including 44 police commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the PNP lost their lives in a mis-encounter ( and was called a massacre by the Senate Report) last January 25, 2015 also in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Today, we protest and rally in front of the Philippine Consulate in LA to add our voices from the United States to the grave concern of our Kababayans over the state of justice in the Philippines. As in the case of the Maguindanao Massacre, witnesses are continually killed, harassed or bribed by the accused.

We continually are witness to the issues being muddled by the court, by the lawyers and the rules of court being mired in a long and tedious process on the Maguindanao Massacre Trials.

The same is true with the Mamasapano Massacre of 2015 where people are being subjected to varying kinds of fact-finding reports , buck-passing and denials and counter-denials with no justice in sight.

We voice and stand with empathy to the families and friends of the SAF44 and also for our Moro brothers who were killed in the misencounter We are with you in your demand for justice and just and lasting peace for Mindanao.

We cannot condone this injustice in the name of the rule of law. W say enough is enough is enough.

TAMA NA, SOBRA NA, KATARUNGAN ANG SIGAW NAMIN NGAYON!

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE! JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE MAGINDANAO MASSACRE OF 2009 and MAMASAPANO, 2015!

Signatories: Alliance Philippines, ANSWER-LA, Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), BANTAY PILIPINAS –USA, TALAKAYAN sa FACLA, AWARE-LA.

March 20, 2015

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