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Republic of the Philippines fo 1,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES f° RECEIVE
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Quezon City bate:
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Seventeenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HB. No.

Introduced by Representative H. Harry L.. Roque Jr.

AN ACT DECLARING NOVEMBER TWENTY-THREE AS “A NATIONAL DAY OF
COMMEMORATION FOR ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRALEGAL KILLINGS ”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Exactly seven years ago today, an entourage of 58 persons aboard a convoy of cars and
vans were stopped by armed men at a police checkpoint in Karuan, Ampatuan,
Maguindanao. They were then herded to a remote hill in Sitio Masalay a few kilometers
away.

When they reached the forlorn hill, the 58 captives met a gruesome death in the hands
of a blood-thirsty band led by then Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., scion
and namesake of the state-backed local despot, Andal Ampatuan Sr., who, in his time,
ruled Maguindanao with an iron fist.

Of the 58 victims, 32 were journalists and media workers; the journalists and media
workers joined the convoy to cover an entourage of women relatives of then Buluan
town vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu and led by his wife Genalyn.

‘They were on their way to the Commission on Election’ office in Shariff Aguak to file
the vice mayor's certificate of candidacy for provincial governor.

It was a grisly end for the group. Most of the victims were thrown into nearby pits
earlier dug ostensibly for the purpose by a backhoe owned by the provincial
government of Maguindanao. When police investigators finally reached the scene many
hours later, they also found buried with some the victims in one of the pits a couple of
cars from the ill-fated convoy.


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The killing of the 32 journalists and media workers was the worst single attack on press
freedom in recorded history. It was also the worst spate of election-related violence in
the Philippines since the Martial Law era.

The Maguindanao massacre, as an egregious incident of extralegal killings, highlights
state responsibility over human rights violations committed by its agents. It is a class of
gross human rights violations for which the State must answer, on top of the individual
criminal liability of the perpetrators themselves. Under international law, the Republic
of the Philippines has a duty to provide compensation and satisfaction to the victims
and their families,

According to current international law, satisfaction covers public acknowledgement of
the State’s wrongdoing, along with concrete steps to repair the relationship between the
victim and the State and the civil society as a whole. Thus satisfaction includes
commemorations, as memorials that signify the state’s resolve not to allow such a
carnage to happen again.

Hence, there is a need for the State, through Congress, to pass a law setting aside a day
to commemorate victims of extralegal killings, including the victims of the Ampatuan
Massacre, to stress its resolve to fight impunity and to honor the memory of those who
perished by rejecting impunity as_a state policy.

L HAs
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H. HARRY L. ROQUE JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Seventeenth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HB. No. 4502

Introduced by Representative H. Harry L. Roque Jr.

AN ACT DECLARING NOVEMBER TWENTY-THREE EVERY YEAR AS “A.
NATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION FOR ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRALEGAL
KILLINGS “

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. In recognition of the need to establish a comprehensive and
structured campaign against impunity, November 23 of every year is hereby declared

as the “A National Day of Commemoration for All Victims of Extralegal Killings”.

SECTION 2. To ensure meaningful observance of the special working holiday as
herein declared, all head of government agencies and instrumentalities, including
government-owned and controlled corporations as well as local government units, and
employers in the private sector shall encourage and afford sufficient time and
opportunities for their employees to engage and participate in any activity conducted
within the premises of their respective offices or establishments to create such a

National Day of Commemoration.


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SECTION 3. The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED), in coordination with the Presidential Communication
Operations Office, other government media organizations, private media organizations,
shall lead public and private school communities at all levels in organizing,
consciousness-raising, activities on the importance of the press, their rights, and the
elimination of all forms of violence or impunity, including that directed at press
freedom. DepEd and CHED, in coordination with the Commission on Human Rights
(CHR) and the Office of the Ombudsman, shall take the lead in creating a teaching
module on state responsibility for human rights violations and humanitarian law to be

taught or discussed during the commemoration,

SECTION 4. If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is held to be
unconstitutional or invalid, the validity of other sections herein shall not be affected

thereby.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days in following its

publication in two national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

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