Maguindanao massacre

13 years after Maguindanao massacre, NUJP still calls to recognize 58th victim

Jairo Bolledo

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13 years after Maguindanao massacre, NUJP still calls to recognize 58th victim

REMEMBERING. A Catholic priest, journalists, and members of the families of the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre gather at the memorial site in Ampatuan in Maguindanao del Sur on Sunday, November 20.

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines

Ma Reynafe Castillo, Reynaldo Momay's daughter, says despite their struggles, she will continue fighting for her father

MANILA, Philippines – Thirteen years after the gruesome Maguindanao massacre that took the lives of 58 individuals, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) remained steadfast in calling to recognize the massacre’s 58th victim.

“At a short commemoration program on November 20, families with Justice Now – the organization of victims’ families – reaffirmed their commitment to continue calling for justice in the Ampatuan Massacre case,” the union said.

“Part of that call for justice is the recognition that there were 58 victims of the massacre and that the trial should include the murder of Reynaldo Momay, whose dentures were found at the massacre site and who was confirmed to have joined the coverage on November 23, 2009.”

Momay, also known as “Bebot,” was the 58th victim of the massacre, where at least 32 media workers were killed. His death was not included in the court’s conviction which only recognized 57 deaths as the basis for its ruling.

The 61-year-old photojournalist was believed to be killed along with his colleagues, but no trace of him was found in the grave site. Authorities were only able to recover a set of dentures, which his family claimed to be his.

Ma Reynafe Castillo, Momay’s daughter, said despite their struggles, she will continue fighting for her father.

“I am trying to survive for the sole reason that as a broken person, I don’t want my fight for justice to be killed further. I do not want to forget and be left without any purpose. For the sake of my father’s name, my children, and future grandchildren. I won’t let them,” Castillo posted on her Facebook account.

Castillo, who for over a decade has been lobbying for his father be recognized as a victim of the massacre, added they have already asked the higher court to acknowledge his father.

Due to political conflicts among powerful political clans in Mindanao, 58 people were slaughtered in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao in 2009. It was considered the country’s worst election-related violence in recent history.

13 years after Maguindanao massacre, NUJP still calls to recognize 58th victim

Right after the massacre, Momay’s family made an intense search for him. At first, they mistakenly claimed a body of another victim. They also feared his body could have been claimed by another family since the bodies were already unrecognizable when they were retrieved.

Before his death, Momay ran a mom-and-pop store and a restaurant in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, according to a New York Times report. When he entered the media industry, he started out as a messenger, then an advertising agent – eventually becoming a photojournalist.

Meanwhile, the NUJP said it takes “solace in the solidarity” among Filipino journalists, adding that it notes the current administration’s promise of “full justice” to the victims’ families.

“We take note of the administration’s commitment, communicated through the OPS, that the government will not forget this heinous crime and hope, along with the families, that full justice will not take another 13 years. As the Justice Now families have stressed, forgetting is not an option for us.”

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Jairo Bolledo

Jairo Bolledo is a multimedia reporter at Rappler covering justice, police, and crime.