CHR to dig for possible 58th massacre victim

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and a foreign forensic team will resume digging Saturday at the massacre site in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province to look for a potential 58th victim. CHR chairperson Leila de Lima said in a radio interview Friday that her agency will also hold its own investigation into the massacre, with the focus on abuses by powerful clans. "Babalik ngayong Saturday, mag-resume ng digging. It’s possible magkaroon ng isa. There are still three unidentified corpses, with four families as claimants. May sobra ng isa sa claimants, so baka meron pang isa. Yan ang recommendation ... kailangan ituloy ang digging. Naghahanap kami ng backhoe," de Lima said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (We will return to the site on Saturday to resume digging. It is possible we may find at least one more corpse. There are three unidentified corpses but four families are claiming them. So there is the possibility of one more body. That is the recommendation, to continue digging. What we need now is a backhoe.) She said it is impossible to make do with the backhoe used in the November 23 massacre for Saturday’s job, saying it is already impounded as part of the evidence in the case. De Lima said that of the 57 bodies recovered so far, only three remain unidentified. On the other hand, she said the CHR will conduct its own public inquiry into the incident, but the focus will not be so much on criminal aspect. Instead, she said the CHR hearings will focus on the human rights situation in the area, including the maintenance of private armies by some clans. Mindset of political clans She said some of the arrested civilian volunteer organization (CVO) members made to handle the weapons did not have sufficient training. "Medyo malawak ito kasi kung walang solution ng institutional or systemic reforms or changes na gagawin, wala tayong makikitang pagbabago sa lugar. The Ampatuans happen to be the most powerful... pero may ibang political clans that may have the same mindset if given the same opportunity or power," de Lima said. (This will be a wide investigation, to look for institutional or systemic reforms. In this case, the Ampatuans happen to be the most powerful in the area. But there may be other political clans that have the same mindset if given the same opportunity or power.) Meanwhile, militant groups in the United States will hold a series of protests to condemn the Maguindanao massacre. A report by dzBB radio’s Manny Vargas said groups such as Bayan Muna, Gabriela-USA and Bayan-USA will continue the protests until December 10, International Human Rights Day. - RSJ, GMANews.TV