By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The local National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) offered mixed reactions to the verdicts handed down yesterday morning over the Maguindanao Massacre. In a statement by NUJP-Bacolod Chair Marchel Espina, she said the guilty verdict against principal suspects Datu Andal, Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan is a welcome development, but called the acquittal of Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan “very disappointing and unacceptable.”
“The families of the victims, who waited 10 years for justice, deserved better,” the NUJP official noted. “We are expecting a 100 percent conviction of all the principal suspects.”
“Sajid’s absence during the promulgation of judgment undermines the judicial process and should be cited in contempt of court,” she added.
Islam Ampatuan, the incumbent mayor of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao, was released on bail.
Espina also urged authorities to intensify efforts to arrest the 80 suspects who remain at large./DGB, WDJ