It’s justice all right, albeit imperfect.
Ten years after the worst election-related incidence of violence, a Quezon City court finally handed down its decision on the massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao that gained notoriety for the Philippines.
Five members of the Ampatuan clan were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the killing of 57, of which 32 were journalists and media workers.
Former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., his brother, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan Sr., Anwar “Ipi” Ampatuan Jr., and Anwar Sajid “Ulo” Ampatuan were sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each of the 57 counts of murder.
The masterminds were also ordered to indemnify the families of the dead.
Two other members of the clan, however, Akmad Tato and Sajid Islam Ampatuan, were acquitted for lack of proof placing them at the scene of the killings. The decision is only deemed partial because more than 80 of the suspects are at large.
But the decision only acknowledged 57 victims. A 58th, photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, was not included because remains had not been found, even as his lawyer said his false teeth had been discovered at the scene.
The decision by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes will no doubt be picked apart and analyzed for days to come. There are legal recourses available to those who feel they did not receive what they deserved. For the rest of us who were first outraged in 2009 and who followed the case over the years, the decision, while imperfect, pinned down the masterminds and the main personalities behind the horrific crime.
We need to keep watch. The struggle does not end with Thursday’s promulgation. Somewhere in the Philippines, right at this moment, there remain political families lording it over their territories and governing as though they were kings and tyrants instead of public servants. They look at everybody else as a means to protect their turf, and use all the resources available to them to ensure that they keep their hold on power.
There will always be those who are smug in their belief that they can do anything without being caught, and even if they are, they could beat the system.
These people prosper because those who should be watching them and taking them to task are cowed and choose to look the other way.
The Ampatuan decision is a good start toward making people aware that impunity does not pay, and that justice here, while slow and frustrating, could be made to work especially when the public sheds its apathy and indifference.