Journalist in Ampatuan town carnage saw himself on front page

"Ling, magiging front page ako. Ayaw mo ba nun?" (Darling, I will land on the front page. Don’t you like that?) Myrna Reblando recalled how her husband, Manila Bulletin reporter Alejandro “Bong" Reblando, coaxed her into allowing him to cover a surefire top story in Maguindanao province. Feeling uneasy about her husband's coverage, Myrna tried to stop Bong from leaving. What she didn’t know was that what he told her would become a reality. Reblando, along with some other 30 journalists and family members of the Mangudadatu clan became the front page of dailies nationwide. They became the casualties of a political fight that was supposed to start through the ballot box for next year’s polls, but began early through the barrel of a gun. Reblando’s body was among the corpses that the killers failed to bury in a deep pit dug through a backhoe that bore the name of Andal Ampatuan Sr., former governor of the Maguindanao provincial government. Like those of his companions victimized by the carnage, Reblando’s features bore the marks of a murder. “Hindi na makilala ang mukha … sa damit ko na lang siya nakilala. Hindi pumasok sa isip ko na magkakaroon siya ng ganun ka-brutal na kamatayan (His face was unrecognizable … I was only able to identify him from his clothes. It never crossed my mind that he would suffer such a brutal death)," Manuel said, describing his brother’s face. Its left side was bashed in and the ear had been slashed off. Reblando, a father of seven from General Santos City, eerily thought about dying a month before it happened. “Malapit na 'kong kunin ni Lord at handa na ako (God will soon take me and I’m ready for it)," his wife recalled Reblando telling her. However, the 53-year-old journalist who always brought with him a Pieta Prayer booklet did not think it would happen in Sitio Masalay in Ampatuan town's Barangay Salman last Monday morning. “Wag kang mag-alala, marami namang journalists na kasama (Don’t worry, I’ll be with many other journalists)," Myrna quoted Bong telling her. It did not help that many of Reblando’s companions were supposed freedom guardians like him. It did not also help that many of Reblando's companions were female - his colleagues in the media, the wife and sisters of Ismael Mangudadatu who were supposed to file the latter’s certificate of candidacy for governor at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak town, and lawyers Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo. The Islamic belief that women are respected even during wars was not evident in Ampatuan town that day. Nobody survived the slaughter, and Myrna knows the horrible memory won't just go away. The death of a loved one makes the living die everyday. “Naiiyak ako at nanghihina. Ayokong maniwala na wala na siya … Ang mga anak namin ayaw magsikain, madalas umiiyak lang, sumisigaw ng ‘daddy ko, daddy ko’ (I cry and I feel weak. I don’t want to believe he’s gone. Our children cannot eat, they often cry out for their father)." - Aie B. See and AR Sabangan, TJD, GMANews.TV