"How much longer will the victims' families have to wait?"
"How much longer will the victims' families have to wait?"
This Nov. 23, it will have been 10 years since the Ampatuan, Maguindanao Massacre shocked the whole world, as political violence claimed the lives of 58 people. The bereaved families of the victims may have to wait a few more weeks until the Quezon City regional trial court renders the verdict on the case.
Meanwhile, the reopening of the case of the Mamasapano Massacre, otherwise known as the SAF44 Massacre, is being sought by the widowed families of the slain policemen as represented by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
They seek to indict former President Benigno Aquino III, for plotting the disastrous Oplan Exodus along with ex-police generals Alan Purisima and Getulio Napeñas.
These two cases dramatically demonstrate the grossly rotten and most hateful state of our justice system, particularly its prejudice against crime victims.
They have showcased the travesty of criminal justice procedures and the litigation process in the country.
One cannot imagine the 10-year ordeal the families of the defenseless 58 victims in Ampatuan, including 32 media members, who were waylaid by over 100 heavily armed suspects in the days leading to the 2010 elections.
Just as horrifying is the tragedy of the 44 commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP), among those contingents ordered to implement the evil designs of Aquino and Purisima.
These nincompoops sent the SAF who ended up as sitting ducks in the territory of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other rebel groups, and were left to die without reinforcement.
They should have their day in court and they should be made to answer for their cold-blooded crime with the appropriate charges.
Justice has been elusive for the SAF44 families in the past five years. The question is: How much longer will they have to fight and wait in agony?
In many cases, it seems impossible to have the rich and powerful criminals to bring to justice and pay for their transgressions. They cannot be easily arrested, detained and charged in court as they are always assisted by private lawyers.
Ironically it is not uncommon for poor innocent people to get jailed based on false and trumped-up charges. They can be dragged out of their homes by some abusive cops without arrest warrants and thrown into jail in no time. In most cases, they do not get legal assistance until the day they appear in court when the case is all cooked up with planted evidence against them.
There are, however, signs of change that bodes hopes for judicial, as well as criminal justice reforms, during the current administration. We can only hope that such winds of change would eventually translate to upholding of truth and justice.
