Philippine woman insists father died in massacre

MANILA, Philippines — A year after 57 people were killed in the Philippines' worst political massacre, journalist Reynaldo Momay's daughter still has no body to prove her father was the 58th victim. Her evidence is both scant and horrifying: his denture dug from a mass grave.

The remains were recovered on a grassy hilltop near the main highway in southern Maguindanao province on Nov. 23, 2009. But the body of Momay, 61, a photographer for a small-town newspaper, is still missing, leaving Reynafe Momay-Castillo unable to prove that he too was slain.

The massacre was the worst atrocity in recent Philippine history: A local warlord and town mayor, Andal Ampatuan Jr., the scion of a powerful clan in the impoverished, insurgency-wracked province, is accused of leading an ambush on an election convoy and ordering about 200 gunmen to mow down the family and supporters of a political rival — almost all of them women.

Among the dead were at least 32 media workers and their staff, making it the worst single killing of journalists anywhere in the world.

It exposed the abuse of authority and unchecked violence that is part of Philippine politics. Political clans in some regions overshadow the weak central government and perpetuate their hold on power for generations, often ruthlessly eliminating rivals with the help of private armies.

Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre, surrendered days later, hoping for a lenient treatment in the hands of his political ally, then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Ampatuans delivered crucial votes in their province for Arroyo and her nominees in the 2004 and 2007 elections, and she helped them get elected to top posts in an autonomous Muslim region that includes Maguindanao. Amputuan Jr.'s father and brothers have also been charged along with dozens of other people. Of 197 accused in the case, more than 100 are in hiding.

Newly elected President Benigno Aquino III has vowed to end that culture of impunity — and the massacre trial is his litmus test. But justice is already proving elusive for many of the families.

At least one potential witness has already been gunned down and properties of witnesses who testified against the Ampatuans attacked. A lawyer for another witness was shot in the neck.

Glena Legarta, wife of slain reporter Bienvenido Jun Legarta, said families of the victims continue to get offers of money from apparent go-betweens of the Ampatuans in exchange for dropping the case.