Journalist groups commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre, also known as the Maguindanao Massacre, the deadliest attack on media workers in Philippine history, on November 23. Journalists are committed to continuing the fight for justice for the victims.

On this day, the victims’ families and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) officials gathered in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, on the site where 58 individuals, including 32 journalists, were massacred.

In Manila, campus journalists marched to Mendiola to commemorate this dark day for the media. In Cagayan de Oro, the NUJP-Cagayan de Oro held a ceremony where UNTV reporter Victor Nuñez’ mother Cathy Nuñez spoke.

Families and journalists remain crying for justice because while some perpetrators have been convicted, their case are still under appeal and can be reversed. To this day, many of the accused have not yet faced trial. One of the victims, photojournalist Reynaldo Momay, has not even been recognized as a victim of the massacre.

“Pending the finalization of the verdict, indemnification and justice for families who have lost loved ones will further be delayed,” NUJP and other journalist groups stated.

According to the NUJP, warlords still wield power in some provinces and are free to terrorize under the guise of maintaining peace, order, and development for the government.

“These conditions also mean that many of our colleagues reporting from the regions do so fully aware of the pressure … to tone down stories or to leave them unreported,” the NUJP said. That pressure includes threats of violence as well as the threat of legal cases like libel as well as of terrorism-related cases as we have seen thrown against media workers, as well as against rights defenders, activists, and missionaries and nuns.

“Our call: full justice for all Ampatuan Massacre victims and we hope that the killings of media workers will stop and never be repeated as they were in 2009,” Grace Morales, wife of Rossel Morales and sister of Marites Cabiltas, both victims of the massacre, said.

Joining the NUJP in the commemoration are the Altermidya Network, Center for Community Journalism and Development, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Philippine Press Institute, and Pinoy Media Center.