STATEMENT FROM UNYPHIL –WOMEN ON THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE

We at UnYPhil –Women condemn and denounce in the strongest possible terms the massacre of at least 57 innocent civilians in Ampatuan, Maguindanao last 23 November 2009. We deplore such inhumane and senseless act of aggression and cruelty that did not even spare unarmed innocent men and women. The fact that such a plan was even hatched at all speaks only of a shamelessness that one could actually get away with such flagrant, brazen and wanton defiance of the law and with such utter disregard for the sanctity of human lives.

We sincerely sympathise and we express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. Though no words of appeasement and comfort could ever take away your anguish, we stand with you now and offer you our steadfast support as you carry on with your crusade and relentless search for justice. We will be by your side as we see the tragedy not as a tragedy of one person, one family, but rather a tragedy for all peace-loving peoples.

Now that investigations are under way, we urge all sectors to do their respective civic and moral duty to ensure that the perpetrators of this most heinous crime be brought to justice.

We call on the government to act with haste and without delay in effectively mobilizing all its resources to uncover the truth and then to promptly carry out a just punishment on the violators of the law. The government has already given the impression of treating this massacre of epic proportions inappropriately to say the least. It should now work to obliterate such impression and thus restore the people’s faith and belief that the justice system in this country may still be working and can still work.

We call on the perpetrators of this dastardly crime to come out in the open and finally admit their culpability. The scale of the massacre warrants that the people will no longer take this in stride even in light of the culture of impunity that has now taken over our land. Thus, we appeal to the guilty parties to, unimaginable it may be, listen to their inner voice, to be guided by their conscience and to come out so to prevent further bloodshed.

We call on everyone, especially those in the conflict-affected areas, to continue exercising vigilance not only to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again but to ensure that this will not go the way previous tragedies have gone, in the deep recesses of our memories. That unspeakable and atrocious incident spilled too much precious blood to be simply forgotten eventually.

One week on, we still continue to struggle with what truly happened. The vulnerability of peace-loving peoples against armed groups, never been so brazenly exhibited, has once again been magnified. But amidst such a violent environment, we remain committed to patiently and tirelessly work to achieve the peace and security that have so far proven to be quite elusive. Peace and non-violence will ultimately prevail.