The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) feels terribly disappointed over the release on bail of Sajid Islam Ampatuan, one of the principal accused in the Ampatuan massacre trial, after he posted a surety bond of P11.6 million. As we predicted, securing the amount, which most Filipinos can only dream about, was easy for a member of a clan that had amassed vast wealth during a decade of misrule over Maguindanao province.
We fear that the search for justice for the 58 victims—32 of them media workers—of the worst incident of electoral violence in recent Philippine history and the single deadliest attack on the press ever recorded would just come to naught.
As we said before, the grant of bail to Sajid, the acting governor at the time of the massacre and, therefore, could not have been out of the murderous plot, can only be attributed to the prosecution’s faulty presentation of its case due to incompetence or, worse, to some nefarious deal.
We demand that the Department of Justice get to the bottom of this and move quickly to repair the damage lest a miscarriage of justice in this case be added to the long litany of sins against press freedom and justice this administration has committed.
—ROWENA PARAAN, chair, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, 4/L FSS Bldg. 89 Scout Castor corner Scout Tuason Streets (near T. Morato Ave.), Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City
nujphil@gmail.com