THE NATIONAL Union of Journalists of the Philippines wishes to voice its opposition to the pending confirmation of Army Col. Medardo Geslani to brigadier general.
To promote Geslani would be to reward him for his role in wilfully failing to prevent one of the most heinous crimes in Philippine history – the Nov. 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre, which saw 58 persons mercilessly slaughtered, 32 of them our colleagues.
It is a fact that, before the convoy of now Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu set out on its ill-fated journey to Shariff Aguak to file his certificate of candidacy, Geslani and his former commanding officer, then Major General Alfredo Cayton, were among those whose help had been sought to provide security because of the very serious threats of violence that had already been floating about days before. These requests were ignored.
It is also on record that, in the immediate aftermath of the carnage, Geslani and Cayton claimed that they had no inkling that anything was amiss.
This could be nothing but a brazen lie since it is also on record that, at least three days before the massacre, the provincial police of Maguindanao, whose leadership was clearly in collusion with those who ordered and carried out the mass murder, had set up checkpoints on the highway through which the convoy was expected to pass.
Surely, the vaunted intelligence network that the military never fails to boast of would have known of this. It is also a fact that an Army intelligence unit that had actually witnessed the convoy being stopped and then taken to the killing grounds in Sitio Masalay had been reporting back to Geslani’s headquarters as events developed.
It is clear from all these that there is no way he can claim ignorance and that the only conclusion that can be drawn is that he, too, had a degree of involvement in the Ampatuan massacre.
Sadly but not surprisingly, a military investigation cleared Geslani and Cayton and, in fact, Cayton was later promoted to lieutenant general and has since retired. Confirming Geslani’s promotion would add another injustice to the long string of injustices visited on the victims of the Ampatuan massacre and their families.
We would also like to point out that, only around two months before the massacre, a convoy of 50 journalists covering the mass evacuations caused by the fighting in Maguindanao at the time were summarily detained at a military outpost in the province.
When the journalists asked why they were being prevented from traveling freely and performing their duties, the soldiers told them they were ordered by their commander, who happened to be Geslani, to stop specifically the media.
Officers such as Geslani are not only a disgrace to the service and their uniform but are clearly a threat to our freedoms. RENDERED MOOT and academic was the 22 October 2014 statement of the NUJP signed by its chair, Rowena C. Paraan, for that very day Geslani’s promotion, along those of 89 other military officers, was approved by the Commission on Appointments.
Coming as it is on the eve of the 59th month of the Ampatuan Massacre, Geslani’s promotion is yet another addition to the growing injurious insult to the massacre victims and their families – the long, loong time it has taken for justice to be still unserved, the granting of bail to hundreds of the accused, and above all, the indifference and insensitivity, the amorality and apathy of the Aquino administration toward the killing of journalists in the country.
Or have you not read BS Aquino III sneering: “Did they die because they were investigative journalists? Were they exercising their profession in a responsible manner, living up to journalistic ethics? Or did they perish because of other reasons?”
Still wonder why the culture of impunity in this country has not only persisted but even flourished in the BS regime?
And this BS has still the gall to tell media to “fulfil its obligation of protecting the truth”! Weep.
Better yet, damn.
