Press Release
November 25, 2009

ROXAS CONDEMNS BRUTAL MAGUINDANAO CARNAGE THRU RESO
GIVES TRIBUTE TO LAWYER-VOLUNTEER WHO WAS AMONG THE VICTIMS

Sen. Mar Roxas condemned the brutal and senseless killing of innocent victims in Maguindanao as he sought a legislative inquiry into the massacre in a bid to prevent a repeat of the incident, towards lasting peace and prosperity in Mindanao

Together with Liberal Standard-Bearer Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Roxas has filed Senate Resolution No. 1491 which seeks to "express the sense of the Senate condemning in the strongest possible terms the brutal and inhuman election-related massacre and carnage of innocent civilians in Maguindanao province."

The resolution likewise calls for a Senate inquiry into the incident "with the end in view of proposing legislative measures that would effectively promote lasting peace and prosperity in Mindanao."

"What makes this vicious and barbaric attack described by a major newspaper as the 'first political mass murder of the election season' so appalling and gruesome is the fact that the victims were unarmed civilians composed mostly of journalists and women, who all believed that they will be safe and unharmed, especially the women because of the Koranic prescription to spare women," Aquino and Roxas lamented in the resolution they jointly filed.

"This unparalleled and atrocious election-related violence is not only an indignation and outrage against the democratic ideals and institutions of our country, but also against the very freedom and human dignity of the Filipino people, certainly deserving of our strongest condemnation," Aquino and Roxas said in the resolution.

During yesterday's oath-taking ceremonies at the Balay in Cubao, Roxas offered a silent prayer for all of the massacre victims, particularly for lawyer Connie Brizuela, a Liberal Party election volunteer who was among those killed during the incident.

"Isa sa mga pinaslang sa Maguindanao, isang Atty. Connie Brizuela, ina, may pamilya, isang lawyer na nagsusumikap lang para sa kanyang pamilya at nakita niya ang pagkakataon para sa pagbabago. Isa siya sa ating mga volunteers. (One of those who were murdered in Maguindanao was Atty. Connie Brizuela, a mother who has a family, a lawyer diligently doing her work for her family and for the hope for change that she has. She was one of our volunteers)," the LP president said in his speech.

"She, and so many others like her, like all other Filipinos, raise a fist against the present norm, against what is happening in our country. It is in her memory and in the memory of all those of our brother and sister Filipinos that we dedicate today's ceremony," he said.

"Para sa atin, ang gusto natin ay isang makabuluhang kapayapaan na kung saan lahat ng mamamayan ay makakaasa na kung sila po ay umalis sa kanilang tahanan at gagawin nila ang kanilang pangkaraniwang mga gawain ay ligtas sila at hindi sila matatakot na mangyayari ito sa kanila (We want our people to be secure when they come out of their homes and go on with their normal lives, without fear that this gruesome incident will happen to them)" he also said.

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