“DILI man namo makuha diri ang hustisya basin sa langit.”
This was the lament of Catherine Nuñez of Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, the mother of Victor Nuñez, a UNTV crew member who was only 24 years old when he was killed in the massacre that claimed the lives of 58 individuals, including 32 journalists.
“Ga-ampo lang gyud ko pero usahay mawad-an gyud kog pag-asa,” Nuñez said.
Nuñez is now 63 years old and has spent the past 16 years pleading for justice alongside other parents, children, and siblings of those killed on Nov. 23, 2009.
She is appealing to the Court of Appeals to help move their case forward. But despite the long struggle, Nuñez expressed gratitude to the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines-Cagayan de Oro Chapter, which she said have never abandoned her and continues to support her after all these years.
Yesterday, the NUJP-Cagayan de Oro Chapter and COPC commemorated the 16th anniversary of the massacre.
Heavy rains did not stop the media from lighting candles inside the COPC boardroom to remember the victims and emphasize that justice should be served.
According to COPC President Froilan Gallardo, the Ampatuan Massacre was not only an attack on 58 individuals — it was an assault on the very idea that the public has the right to know.
Gallardo added that it is vital to assert — clearly and firmly — that press freedom is not a privilege that can be measured, but a foundation that must be defended.
