Maguindanao massacre kin see hope in Pope’s visit

Pope Francis. AP FILE PHOTO

BARANGAY SALMAN, Ampatuan, Maguindanao—For the families of the 32 media workers gunned down five years ago allegedly on orders of the Ampatuan political clan, the January visit of Pope Francis is a symbol of God’s love for “those who are seeking justice, like us.”

They said as much in a personal letter to the Pope asking for his prayers that divine intervention might help them achieve justice.

“(Pray) that we are given the strength in our search for justice, in our quest to raise our families. (Pray) that we acquire clear thoughts to make the right decisions. We are a simple people, we do not have power nor riches,” said the letter written in Filipino and read on behalf of the families by Grace Morales,widow of Roselle Morales and sister of Marites Cablitas, both massacre victims.

‘Too painful to bear’

“It has been five years since our children lost their fathers or their mothers… five years since we lost our brothers or sisters… We are appealing to you, our dear Holy Father, to help us give justice (to the victims),” the letter said.

It added that although the lives of their loved ones could never be recovered, their kin believed that God was on their side. And while the victims—26 of them members of the Mangudadatu clan—were not without sin, their gory deaths were just too painful to bear, the letter said.

“In this place, the burst of gunfire rang; this was where they plead for their lives. This was where the hope of the 58 families disappeared.”

“Here in this place, five years since the massacre took place, we are making this appeal for you to pray for us, and in whatever way, as the supreme leader of the Catholic Church, walk with us towards justice,” the letter said.

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