Relatives of Maguindanao massacre victims visit site ahead of 13th anniversary

The relatives of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre (also called Ampatuan massacre) visited the site of the crime on Sunday, days before the 13th anniversary of the killings.

The visit is the first one the relatives were able to make after two years due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The relatives also offered prayers at the site, according to a report on GMA News' Unang Balita on Monday.

The massacre took place on November 23, 2009 along an off-road hillside in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province.

Accompanied by media, relatives and supporters of Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu were then on their way to file his candidacy for the governorship of Maguindanao when they were stopped at a checkpoint and abducted by armed men.

Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town at the time, was about to challenge Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr., son of then-governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

The members of the Mangudadatu convoy were forced up into the hills of Sitio Masalay, shot using high-powered firearms, and buried in shallow graves using a backhoe.

Fifty-eight people died, including Mangudadatu's wife and two sisters. Thirty-two of the casualties were members of the media, one of whom was never found. Six victims were not even part of the convoy.

Mangudadatu eventually became governor in 2010, and later, congressman for the Second District of Maguindanao during the 18th Congress.

According to the NUJP, 44 of those accused were already convicted of the crime. —KG, GMA Integrated News