Warning: Evil Revisited (Maguindanao Massacre 1st Anniversary)

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" - Martin Luther King Jr.

The massacre of 58 men and women including 32 journalists on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao will forever be remembered.  The victims pleaded for dear lives but were granted death. Mutilated bodies, eyes blown off their sockets, female genitals whacked in a taunting orgy of gory -- graphic images of death you will plead did not happen in your lifetime. For all its monstrosity, even the most ruthless of criminals do not deserve such a tragic piece of history. These are but innocent people going about with their lives, yet received the harshest method of death in the hands of the evil blood-thirsty Ampatuan clan.

Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu had the slightest hint that his intention to challenge the primacy of Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao could trigger the wrath in them and unleash the most evil deed one could only pray did not happen. The dead were 58 innocent men and women including those unfortunate motorists who happened to be in close proximity with the Mangudadatu convoy. The brazen act of concealing the bodies in a hastily-dug hole by a government-owned backhoe is proof of an utter contempt of the law unimaginable in a democracy.

From the words of the people themselves of the third most impoverished province in the country that is Maguindanao, "the Ampatuans are the law" and that "they own practically everything even the souls of the people". It's either you say "yes" or you get killed the next few seconds. Such is the magnitude of fear that even a Mangudadatu now sitting as governor of Maguindanao province, very few residents dare speak of the atrocities that marked decades-long rule by the Ampatuan clan. However,the culture of impunity that has become a way of life for the powerful Ampatuans did not just happen spontaneously if not for the blessing of the Arroyo government, which until now does not own up to its role as modern Frankenstein. Their ruthless rule of the entire province has seen its peak during the Arroyo presidency, as quid pro quo for delivering a clean slate victory for the administration in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

One year on and the victims' cries for justice  continue to reverberate down our cold spine - its grandiosity of an event now seemingly forgotten. We are back to our fetish self of craving for anything current and relevant. This demeanor though is understandable because we seem to have lost our faith in our justice system. Now pundits believe that the multiple murder case against the beastly Ampatuans could drag through many years, and now we are resigned to the fact that even justice fears to tread the path of the oppressed. Yes, even Satan's deputies are accorded the fairest trial  and still possess the temerity to mock the law of man. That being said their dominion is seemingly irrefutable over those who worship gold and riches at the expense of true justice.

Being the hapless spectators that we are, we can only collectively sigh in utter disgust how these brute criminals can dispense influence even behind bars. Their all-reaching tentacles are without boundaries preying on those whom they sense to let out a scream of their evil exploits. How many deads have been accounted for at the behest of the primary evil inside his cell? There is no denying the fact, that Andal Jr. is still capable of taking down anyone who could jeopardize his steely determination of laughing his way out of  jail. He has the best pool of lawyers behind him out to die for their master, and his billions. These billions of pesos plundered from state coffers are the very same bulks being used to hypnotize the most brilliant of lawyers to ensure their freedom. And only time will tell if the most evil amongst us defeats Lady Justice, and if that dispensation arrives, the moral fortitude of that generation will no longer pose a challenge to the myth that is justice.

Until when are we going to weep with contempt at the slow dispense of justice? Until when are we going to witness criminals and plunderers go free and welcomed as hometown heroes in a wanton travesty of justice? And until when are they going to feast with their loot if the law of nature refuses to intervene? We have witnessed the unthinkable yet the wheels of justice seem stuck in oblivion. Insatiable greed and an unquenching  lust for power proved to have driven people to shrug off conscience and usurping remnants and bits of innate human compassion.

We weep for those whose voices were silenced by the guns of the murderers. We lament for those who happened to be at the wrong time and the wrong place. The women who despite begging for their lives imploring their god received a painful death and their dignities violated. We grow weary due to hopelessness because we see partakers in the assault of democracy and complicit to the murders of the innocent, continuously disrespect the wailing souls of their victims - their arrogant taunting smile even becomes fixtures in the halls of Congress. No remorse, not a miniscule of sympathy for those they had murdered and the relatives.

To Andal Ampatuan Jr., Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: Let us revisit the spectacle you have created,  so that you can party once more and reminisce the time you shared a crisp laughter together while gulping a wineglass that runs over with the blood of your preys. You have certainly entertained the thoughts that you are beyond the reach of the law.  You are a fool to believe that you won't live to see the day of your downfall. In your delusion, you are convinced that you are entitled to possess the riches of this world at the expense of those who are powerless living under your shadows. You all have enriched yourselves to ensure the children of your grandchildren will have their plenty even when you're all long gone. But those innocent who bore the brunt of your blood-thirsty soul had their lives stolen abruptly from their loved ones in a  most savage fashion. You are no better than the brute beasts of the field that devour any living being that their eyes have set upon. And with reverence fit for royals, you are cordially welcome to take a peek and giggle at the magnitude of your triumphs. Enjoy your time your royal highnesses!