Journalists urge Duterte to reconsider Panelo's appointment

COTABATO CITY — Journalists in central Mindanao on Thursday urged incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his plan to enlist in his Cabinet the former lawyer of the Ampatuans who were implicated in the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

 

Radio stations in the region have been reporting Duterte’s plan to appoint lawyer Salvador Panelo either as press secretary or presidential spokesman.

 

READ: LIST: Duterte names possible Cabinet members

 

Relatives of the victims of the massacre, the country’s worst election-related violence ever, have urged reporters in central Mindanao to help them drumbeat their opposition to Duterte’s idea.

 

RELATED: 6 years later, still no justice in Maguindanao massacre

 

Mayhang Reblando-Zainal, daughter of Alejandro Reblando, a Manila Bulletin reporter, one of the 32 journalists killed in the massacre, said that allowing Panelo to become Duterte’s press secretary would have far-reaching implications on their search for justice for the victims of the carnage.

 

“It’s like adding insult to injury. Imagine? A lawyer of the people we are prosecuting would work in Malacañang! That’s not fair,” she said.

 

Central Mindanao’s two most influential press groups, the Kampilan Press Corps and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Police Press Club, had also urged Duterte to listen to those opposing Panelo’s enlistment in his Cabinet.

 

The two blocs of journalists issued a common statement Thursday, calling on other press clubs in Mindanao to support their bid for Duterte not to appoint Panelo to any position in his administration.

 

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife, Genalyn, was one of the 58 people killed in the massacre, also urged Duterte to first look into the possible legal implications to the litigation of the massacre case in court if Panelo, who represented the alleged masterminds in the atrocity, is appointed to a high post in Malacañang.