N.B. – This is a press release from the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) on a November 18 forum on the Ampatuan massacre where two high-ranking government officials will serve as speakers, along with other personalities.

Two cabinet secretaries, media personalities and others will speak at a forum on November 18 (Thursday), 9:00 a.m. at the auditorium of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) to discuss the Ampatuan massacre that happened on November 23, 2009.

Secretaries Leila De Lima (Department of Justice) and Sonny Coloma (Presidential Communications Operations Office) will give their assessment on what happened a year after the massacre that claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 journalists. Maria Ressa (former vice president for news of ABS-CBN) and Rowena Paraan (director, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines) will also present their analyses from the media’s point of view.

Atty. Rose Setias-Reyes, legal aid national director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, will discuss the progress of the case against the Ampatuans and their accomplices. Aquiles Zonio, a journalist from General Santos City who “survived” the massacre, will also share his experience on that fateful day of November 23, 2009.

Reynafe Momay-Castillo will speak for the families of the massacre victims. Castillo’s father, Midland Review photographer Reynaldo Momay, is among the massacre victims whose body remains missing as of this writing.

The forum is organized by the UP CMC and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The media are invited to cover this event. For verification and more details, please call the Office of the College Secretary at 920-6867.