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To commemorate the eighth month since the massacre, a candle-lighting ceremony was held on Friday in Quezon City in front of the main office of UNTV broadcast network – whose four employees were among the 57 people who died in the grisly killing in Ampatuan town last November. In the said event, Editha Tiamson, wife of slain UNTV driver Daniel Tiamson, also appealed to Aquino to make the resolution of the Ampatuan massacre case a focal point of his speech on Monday. “Sana nga mabigyan niya ng pansin ito sa kanyang SONA. Si Justice secretary [Leila] de Lima naman, sinabi niya na tutukan niya ito (We hope he does give attention to it in his SONA. Justice secretary de Lima herself said she will focus on this)," she said in an interview with GMANews.TV.
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Tiamson likewise expressed hopes for speedier court proceedings under the Aquino administration. “Inaasahan namin ‘yung mabilis niyang pagtugon sa kaso namin. Alam namin isa rin s’yang biktima ng pagpatay (We are hoping for his quick action on our case. We know he himself is a victim of murder)," she said of President Aquino, whose father and namesake, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., was killed on August 21, 1983 by aviation security troops, presumably the result of a plot of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. The multiple murder case trial against Andal Ampatuan Jr., primary suspect in the massacre, was suspended indefinitely five months ago pending resolution of motions filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221. (See: Ampatuan multiple murder trial suspended indefinitely) Justice secretary De Lima said on Friday that she would urge presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to immediately resume the court proceedings to ensure the safety of witnesses, as well as members of the families of the massacre victims. (See: DOJ to remind QC court to immediately resume Ampatuan trial) —JV
