Senators yesterday hailed the guilty verdict handed down by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 against members of the influential Ampatuan clan in the Maguindanao massacre case.
“This decision restores faith in the justice system,” Sen. Joel Villanueva said.
“I salute Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes for her dedication and her courage to stand for what is right and just,” Villanueva added. “We hope that our authorities continue to account for the other accused who have yet to be arrested and tried,” he added.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the verdict is a step towards the full measure of justice.
“This has been a day too long in coming, but it is a step towards the full measure of justice,” Hontiveros said. “My heart goes out to the families of all the victims who have suffered for far too long. I am glad that this decision finally saw the light of day, and the truth is this decision should have come sooner,” she added.
With the verdict, Hontiveros said she hopes that the government can now take steps to ensure that no similar attack against democratic rights, especially against the free press, would ever happen again.
“The world has waited 10 long years, and finally, we have taken the first step towards healing, accountability, and justice. But this is not where the road to justice ends,” she said. “Now we must ensure the success of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and that the Philippines stops becoming a dangerous place for members of the press, or for anyone exercising their democratic rights.”
“While it took several years to arrive at a verdict, the attainment of justice shows that faith and vigilance in the judicial system is a primordial norm of a civilized society,” Sen. Francis Tolentino said. “While the penalty may be wanting for some, lets us hope that this will never happen again,” he said.
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan said the ruling should serve as a warning to other mass murderers.
“Those behind the daily killings in the brutal drug war launched by this administration should take today’s Ampatuan massacre guilty verdict to heart,” Pangilinan said. “The killing of the innocent, the slaughter of the hapless, mass murder must be, will be punished,” he said.
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima said she is glad that justice has finally been served for victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
“This day will forever be etched in history as the day justice did not tolerate homicidal and monstrous abuse of power. By means of this guilty verdict, we are reminded that warlords have no place in a democracy, but are its very anti-thesis,” De Lima said, also in a separate statement. (Hannah L. Torregoza)
