The Philippine Online Chronicles

Two 90-minute-long videos of the salvaging operations undertaken in Ampatuan, Maguindanao to retrieve the bodies of the 52 killed in November 23 last year were shown at court yesterday for the trial of Maguindanao Massacre primary suspect Andal Ampatuan, Jr. Bootlegged copies of these videos are currently being sold in the underground market.

The footage, taken by photographer Jerry Atanoso, showed members of the army and concerned citizens digging through the mud to retrieve the bodies which were hastily buried there. Many of the bodies had been disfigured by the shooting. A dismembered leg was also unearthed.

According to State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera, "graphic, gruesome and lurid images" were meant to complement the testimony given by Amapatuan town vice mayor Rasul Sangki who said that he had witnessed Andal Jr. and dozens of gunmen slaughtering the members of a convoy that had set off to file the Certificate of Candidacy of Ampatuan rival Ismael Mangudadatu.

Upon seeing the footage, lawyer Harry Roque, who represents the families of 14 of the 30 journalists killed, had to stand up and rush to the bathroom to throw up.

“Yes, the lawyer really vomited,” a young female officer said after Roque left. “The janitor fixed things up immediately so there were no signs of his visit.”

“I couldn’t take the gory images on the tapes,” he told reporters afterwards. “It was so brutal. I saw the photographs of the victims, but seeing the bodies on the video was different. Only the devil could do such a gruesome crime.”

Another lawyer, Gemma Oquendo, walked out of the room 40 minutes into the first video. She said it was difficult for her to maintain composure while watching the videos, as her father and sister were among those who were killed.

While the videos were being shown Ampatuan was seen occasionally yawning and dozing off.