Relatives of the Maguindanao massacre, journalists, and students participate in a candle lighting ceremony at the Edsa Shrine monument in Manila on November 23, 2014. AFP PHOTO/NOEL CELIS.

On November 23, 2009, 58 people were killed in the small town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao in Southern Philippines. They were later buried by a government-owned backhoe in shallow graves on a hilltop. Of the victims, 32 were members of the media, making the massacre the world’s single deadliest event for journalists.

The bloodbath left the world shaken, with millions of Filipinos demanding for justice. What had felt like cries that fell on deaf ears were finally heard today, 10 years later, when suspects Datu Andal Jr. (aka Unsay) and Zaldy Ampatuan, members of an influential political clan, were convicted of murder.

The Maguindanao Massacre

The brutal killings took four months to plan, CNN reported.

In November 2009, ahead of the 2010 elections, Datu Andal Jr., then the mayor of Datu Unsay town, was running to succeed his father Datu Andal Sr. as the governor of Maguindanao province. He was up against then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, also from a political family, who was seeking to end the Ampatuan family’s 20-year rule over the province.

On the day Mangudadatu was set to file his candidacy, Datu Andal Jr. and his heavily-armed men were seen stationed at checkpoints around the Ampatuan town.

Knowing that he needed to protect himself, Mangudadatu instead sent his pregnant wife Bai Gigi and other women relatives, who were accompanied by members of the press, to file his candidacy. In his testimony, Mangudadatu said that he was confident that they would not be harmed because they were Muslim and Islam has high regard for women.

However, the party’s convoy of eight vehicles was stopped in Ampatuan town's Sitio Malating by armed men. At around 9 a.m., Bai Gigi called her husband saying, “There are many armed men. Unsay is here. He slapped me.” These were her last words before her phone was turned off.

The group was then brought to the hills of Sitio Masalay where they were dragged one by one to stand in front of Datu Andal Jr. According to the memorandum submitted by the prosecution to the court, Datu Andal Jr. and his men then shot them using high-powered firearms, "killing them in a competitive fashion,” with shots to the mouth and between the legs.

Among the last to be killed were the journalists, who were inside a vehicle that was showered with bullets. As soon as Datu Andal Jr. received word of soldiers approaching the area, he ordered a backhoe operator to bury all the corpses and vehicles.

The Trial of the Decade

When the multiple murder case was filed on November 26, 2009, 197 individuals were charged, 15 of whom were part of the Ampatuan family.

Despite eye witness accounts from local residents and aides of the Ampatuan family saying otherwise, Datu Andal Jr. insisted he was never at the scene of the crime. His brother Zaldy almost escaped trial in 2010 when then Justice Secretary Alberto Agra ordered state prosecutors to clear him and their cousin Akmad Ampatuan Sr, but the prosecutors defied the order.

In a report by Human Rights Watch, the Ampatuans were said to be a powerful warlord clan in the Southern island of Mindanao. Its private army, allegedly composed of up to 5,000 militiamen, police, and military personnel, have been linked to killings, torture, sexual assault, and abductions that were never accounted for.

Nene Santos, one of the key lawyers representing the victims’ families who had overseen the decade-long trial, attributed the delay to the large number of accused, changes of legal counsel, numerous motions filed, and the threats faced by witnesses and lawyers, among others.

Victims' families, lawyers, and human rights groups have all said that the only acceptable decision for the court is a conviction of the Ampatuans. But after long procedures in what has been dubbed the “trial of the decade,” eight of the accused have died, including one of the masterminds Datu Andal Sr., while some 80 suspects still remain at large. At least 3 witnesses have also died.

Datu Andal Jr. (L) and others accused of involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre waiting to hear the court's verdict at the trial venue inside a prison facility in Manila. AFP PHOTO / SUPREME COURT - PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE (SC-PIO).

The Verdict

This morning, Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes announced her verdict on the heinous crime. Brothers Datu Andal Jr. and Zaldy, and 28 others were convicted of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in jail without parole. Fifteen others were sentenced to six to 10 years for being accessories to crime. However, 55 of the suspects were acquitted, including Ampatuan brother Datu Sajid Islam.

According to former Supreme Court spokesperson and lawyer Theodore Te, Datu Andal Jr. and Zaldy will serve 30 out of their 40 year-sentence because they were in jail in the 10 years the trial was ongoing.

Under the law, those found guilty of taking a life are required to pay only PHP50,000 ($988) in damages. But according to Lawyer Ted Te, if the prosecution's lawyers prove their case in terms of consequential damages, the victims' families could receive PHP20 million ($395,000) each, Rappler reported.

Press Freedom in the Philippines

Although it was a long time coming, today’s guilty verdict was a win for press freedom in the Philippines, a country that has been increasingly dangerous for journalists.

Last year, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) dubbed the Philippines as the deadliest peacetime country for journalists in Southeast Asia. It also ranked the country as the worst offender in media impunity because of the high number of media killings that have remained unresolved.

Ever since President Rodrigo Duterte’s ascent to power in 2016, 12 journalists have been murdered, 11 of them killed before his second year in office — the highest number of journalist murders in the first two years of any Philippine president.

“There are no signs of any government willingness to stop the targeting of journalist and media organisations who believe this official apathy, or even open hostility, has fuelled a culture of impunity which has emboldened those seeking to silence the press,” the IFJ report says.

Correction 12/21/19: This story originally said Theodore Te was the Supreme Court spokesperson. He no longer held the position at the time of writing. We regret the error.