Momay Case: Two months after the massacre(Part 1)

Two months ago, this place is like an arena of the ancient Roman Empire. Death had engulfed this hill. Cries of torment and endless pleading are in the air. No one would ever dare to be here during that moment. It’s like a nightmare that a child would never dare dream... except for me.

I need to see things by myself. I need to be in the spot where the Maguindanao Massacre took place. It will help me trace the history of that gory event of the November 23, 2009 massacre.
I have to do this not because I wanted to. I have to do this to help ease the pain of the families that was left. And there is nothing more painful than what the suffering of the Momay family. They lost their father. The worst is they never found the body. This is the reason why I was invited in the picture.

It was Friday night when the daughter of “Bebot” Momay texted me. The family of the victims with the media will be going up to the site. It is in commemoration of the day of the massacre. They invited me to go with them. I asked permission from my superior to be absent for that day. I went with the family.

It was 11:00 AM of Saturday when the convoy fetch me. I was warmly welcomed by the family of the victims. Most of them, it is the first time to go up in the site. For my client, the daughter of Bebot, it was her third time. Since, she was present during the 3 hour retrieval operation took place.

The family of the victims was wearing white t-shirts. Printed in front is the red letters “Justice Now”. It is the group formed by them to pursue justice for the killings. On the way to the municipality of Ampatuan, we received a text message that there are delegations from Cotabato and Davao. The delegation is composed of NGOs, students and media men who sympathized with the family. Upon arrival, we saw how big the delegation was. I estimated it to be around 500 people all in all. We went to the Municipal Hall ground (This is also the same spot where we convene during the January 3 digging). Then we ate our lunch. After which we went on to visit the site.