Media groups mark 5th Maguindanao massacre anniversary

Photo by Carlos H. Conde / Twitter

MANILA – Local and international media groups yesterday commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre.

A million candle lighting activity was held by various journalists and human rights advocates who also joined the Journalism Asia Forum and the Uncovering Asia Conference in Manila.

An art installation at the Bantayog ng Bayani in Quezon City was also mounted by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

Last week, an international mission was sent by the IFJ to the country where the representatives, along with the victims’ families and relatives visited the massacre site.

Part of the mission was to meet with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Undersecretary Jess Yu, the day after their visit in the crime site.

The meeting was held to discuss the updates on the massacre case and the situation of the Filipino Journalists in the country, in terms of their safety, half-a decade after the Maguindanao bloodshed.

Meanwhile, members of the Danish Union of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) also expressed their solidarity with the commemoration of the tragedy.

“The annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists sends a strong message of support and encouragement to the Philippine union of journalists on the 5th anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre, the worst killing of journalist known in modern history,” read the EFJ statement.

“Five years later, not a single person has been convicted for participating in the bloodshed,” it added.