24/11/2025
In the height of the 2010 national and local election filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COC), the most brutal case of press and election-related violence in the Philippines transpired in the province of Maguindanao.
58 defenseless lives were claimed, 32 of whom were media practitioners, while the remaining victims were unsuspecting passersby, Esmael Mangudadatu’s female relatives, lawyers, and constituents. In this heinous crime, 197 suspects were identified and charged, but only 44 were successfully convicted, 55 were acquitted, and more than 80 suspects remain at large.
𝟮𝟬 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟵
The first day of COC filing for the 2010 local and national elections. Information about Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu’s candidacy for governor against Andal Ampatuan Jr., son of the incumbent governor and family patriarch Andal Sr., spread across the province.
𝟮𝟯 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟵
Mangudadatu is aware of the imminent threat that came with challenging the near decade-long hold of the Ampatuan clan on the political seat; thus, he sent his pregnant wife, Genalyn, along with his other female relatives, lawyers, and constituents to the municipality of Shariff Aguak to file his COC. He invited teams of media practitioners to witness the filing, ensure transparency, and deter possible attacks. Their requests for security earlier this day were denied, so they rode in six convoy vans without any form of defense.
While along Brgy. Salman of Ampatuan town, the convoy along with clueless passersby, was stopped by hundreds of armed unidentified men and was held hostage. With Andal Jr. 's presence and orders, they were led to a rural hillside location in Sitio Masalay. While their captors negotiated over radio and phone calls and decided their fate, Mangudadatu’s wife, lawyer, and some media workers were able to send distress messages.
Later on, each van with its passengers was successively gunned down until no one was left alive. Bodies and vehicles were thrown off excavations, and perpetrators fled.
𝟮𝟰-𝟮𝟲 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟵
After almost four days, 57 bodies out of 58 identified victims were recovered from the shallow mass graves. On the 24th, then former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City. On the 26th, Andal Jr., the main suspect, surrendered to authorities but denied committing the crime.
𝟬𝟴 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟬
The murder trial began before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in Taguig City, Metro Manila.
𝟭𝟳 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱
While years of court trials persisted, the charged and detained family patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. died of a heart attack, escaping the final verdict.
𝟭𝟳 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵
After nearly a decade of proceedings, the main trial phase of the principal suspects of the massacre ended.
𝟭𝟵 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵
The victims’ families gathered at the trial court to hear the decision of Solis-Reyes. Five members of the Ampatuan clan, including brothers Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan, and 26 other accomplices were convicted of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua without bail.
𝟮𝟳 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
The Supreme Court (SC) acquitted Datu Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan Sr., son-in-law of late clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., as the SC found a lack of sufficient evidence proving his participation in the conspiracy to commit the murders.
***
Decade-long court trials were marked by delays, denials, and the deaths or disappearances of suspects and witnesses. Despite the sentence executed, justice remains hollow as a portion of the perpetrators remain free, and the unrecovered body of photojournalist Reynando Momay remains unrecognized as the 58th victim of the massacre.
While the country enters the last quarter of the year with joy, the victims’ families continue to mourn under the oppressive weight of their grief as they are reminded of the day their loved ones came home in soiled body bags, and incomplete justice the sixteen years of fight could only afford.
In its yearly commemoration, the Maguindanao Massacre is not only remembered as the deadliest attack on journalists in the history of the Philippines, but also as a reminder of the persisting pattern of impunity and injustice in the country.
Story by Jertrude Diolanto
Design by Seth Jangao and John Clark Bation
