Shrine to rise on massacre site in Maguindanao

As the first anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre approaches, a shrine honoring its 57 victims is expected to start taking shape "soon" on the hilly portion of a sub-village in Maguindanao where they were killed on November 23 last year. Maguindanao Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, whose wife and several relatives were among the massacre victims, said he has obtained approval from the Sangki clan to convert the site into a shrine. The Sangkis, whose members include prosecution witnesses Rasul and Mohammad Sangki, own the piece of land where the massacre happened at Sitio Masalay of Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town. "The Sangkis have already signified their willingness to give up the land [for the construction of the shrine]," Mangudadatu told reporters during a break at Wednesday's multiple murder trial in Taguig City. The Maguindanao governor also said that a P10-million budget has already been appropriated for a road pavement project in Sitio Masalay. He said paving the road near the site will make it easier for people to visit the shrine. Mangudadatu admitted that the Ampatuan massacre shrine was part of his administration's plan to convert the site into a tourist spot "in the next five to 10 years." "I want it to become a pilgrimage [site]," said Mangudadatu, who won against the Ampatuans’ bet for governorship in the May 2010 elections. Apparently excited about the project, Mangudadatu said he and his team have already prepared sketches of how the shrine would look like. Asked for details of the project, Mangudadatu said the shrine will be constructed inside a covered court where supporters and sympathizers of the massacre victims could offer prayers. Mangudadatu could not yet give a timetable for the project and when it is expected to be completed, but assured it will be "soon." The massacre, which has elicited worldwide condemnation, is now the subject of an ongoing multiple murder trial, with the prosecution presenting four witnesses so far to prove that the powerful Ampatuan clan was behind the gruesome crime. The victims included Mangudadatu's wife, Genalin, his two sisters, a number of supporters, lawyers, and at least 32 journalists. The bodies of some of the victims were found buried, along with their crushed vehicles, beneath freshly-dug earth in several pits on the hilly portion of Sitio Masalay. The remaining bodies and vehicles were left on the ground, unburied, allegedly because the operator of the backhoe that buried the first batch scampered away when military units searching for the abducted Mangudadatu convoy reached the area. Prominent members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including patriarch Andal Sr., his sons former Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Jr. and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy, are facing 57 counts of murder, along with some 190 other suspects. To commemorate the carnage's first anniversary, Mangudadatu said his family and supporters would be holding ecumenical services at the crime site on November 23. He added that he will make it a point that no religious symbols will be placed on the site where they would be praying. "Iba-iba kasi ang religion ng mga pamilya ng biktima. So para neutral. Ang mahalaga ay nagsasama-sama kami bilang Pilipino," he said. (The victims' families belong to different religious, so we want it neutral. What's important is that we gather there as Filipinos.) The day after the ecumenical services, Mangudadatu will fly back to Manila to attend the resumption of the murder trial at Camp Bagong Diwa. For its part, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said it is still consulting with the families of the journalists who were among those killed in the massacre, to get more details about the shrine project. The NUJP is among the lawyers' and journalists' groups which have been leading efforts in seeking justice for the massacre victims, and has been lining up several nationwide and localized activities to commemorate the massacre's first anniversary.—With JMA/JV, GMANews.TV