The Supreme Court approves the request of various media organizations to allow live coverage of Maguindanao massacre case promulgation on December 19.
In the Supreme Court’s announcement yesterday, it will only allow a limited number of cameras inside wherein one should be focused on the judge while the other is on the actual party and its counsel. Zoom-in shots will be prohibited.
Only accredited media representatives will be allowed to cover because of the court’s limited space.
Cell phones, audio or video recordings, and more will also be prohibited in the courtroom at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.
Even conducting interviews is not allowed.
SC approves Maguindanao massacre promulgation live media coverage
The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre after the town where the mass graves were found, occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
While the 58 victims were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town, they were kidnapped and killed. Mangudadatu was challenging Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., son of the incumbent Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and member of one of Mindanao’s leading Muslim political clans, in the forthcoming Maguindanao gubernatorial election, part of the national elections in 2010. The people killed included Mangudadatu’s wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history. At least 34 journalists are known to have died in the killing. Even before the Maguindanao massacre, the CPJ had labeled the Philippines the second most dangerous country for journalists, second only to Iraq.