Maguindanao Massacre Memorial

November 22, 2013, 5 PM (Friday), a candle lighting ceremony in memorial of the Ampatuan Massacre was held in the CAS Open Theater by the Carolinian Sociological-Anthropological Society (CARSAS) and Kabataan Partylist, in partnership with the Carolinian Political Science Society (CPSS), Center for Gender Welfare Advocacy and Promotion of Sensitivity (C-GWAPS), Student Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (STAND), Today’s Carolinian and Sophia. Students were invited to the event to honor those who lost their lives while at the same time raising awareness for this commemoration.
The ceremony was started with a call to everyone to come closer. Introductory words to welcome the participants and the lighting of candles then followed. A series of spontaneous prayers lead by Dr. Leny Lanaria, Vice President for Talamban Campus of the University of San Carlos College Faculty Independent Union (USC-CFIU) and the respective organizations’ student leaders accompanied the candle-lighting.
Dr. Lanaria and the student leaders all recalled, in prayer, the atrocities and details of the horrible killing of 34 journalists along with their entourage. Their prayer called for a greater awareness of the conditions of the country, an end to patronage politics, the eternal rest of the victims’ souls and their justice and a true effort for change and the right way.The prayers were concluded by the singing of “Bayan Ko”, led by Alem Garcia from Today’s Carolinian.
The Maguindanao Massacre, also known as the Ampatuan Massacre was the horrific mass murder and burial of 58 people on November 22, 2010 that included journalists, members of the Mangudadatu family and associates. Women, including two pregnant, were brutally raped and slaughtered.