The Philippine National Police (PNP) is pushing for the creation of a fact-finding committee that will conduct an in-depth probe not only on the Maguindanao massacre but also the root causes of the culture of violence in the entire Mindanao area.

Director General Jesus Verzosa, PNP chief, said the output that may be derived from the investigation of the fact-finding panel would be of big help in crafting measures that will discourage the people in Mindanao to do away with the use of force in their social lives and in the political arena.

“I think it’s a must. A fact-finding committee should be held so that we will not be seeing only at the massacre incident itself but the underlying reasons why it could have happened,” said Verzosa in a press beefing in Camp Crame.

“This is one of the important things we should look at. Because if we want to prevent another thing happening in the future, we have to see the root causes of all these things,” he added.

Verzosa said it is up to the government to determine the specifics of the fact-finding probe, as well as its composition. But the end goal of the undertaking, he said, should be to have a permanent solution through recommended policies that will shun violence in Mindanao from local residents up to known personalities in the area.

He, however, stressed that it would be more credible if the fact-finding committee is initiated by private sector.

And the killings of 57 people, the official said, would be a good starting ground and motivation for the investigation.

“We should put in different inputs that will hopefully trace the root causes of this gruesome offense because I think we all know that there are events before that could have led or that could have contributed to this gruesome offense,” said Verzosa.

And with politics now appearing to be the motive of the November 23 carnage, Verzosa said one of the fields of interest where the probe should start is the power struggle among some prominent families not only in Maguindanao but also the entire Mindanao.

“A fact-finding body is desirable in this circumstance, there should be different means of looking at the case in its entirety especially the different factors that could have contributed to the maintenance of private armed groups that resulted in some violence even before this massacre occurred,” said Verzosa.

“And we hope that the rule of law in the investigation will also prevail,” he added.

PNP records reveal that a total of 249 Election–Related Violent Incidents (ERVI) during the 2004 national elections resulting the killing of 41 politicians and the wounding of 18 others; and 229 ERVI in the last 2007 election wherein 37 politicians were killed and 24 others were wounded.

But police officials considered the Maguindanao massacre as one of the worst poll-related violence in the history of Philippine elections, prompting the PNP leadership to map out security plans as early as second quarter of this year to prevent further bloodsheds.

Meanwhile, Bangon Pilipinas standard-bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva said the Maguindanao massacre can be considered as one-time assault that inflicted a crippling effect to the entire press community in Mindanao that could never be reversed.

This is why Villanueva is calling on the public to be keep a watchful eye in the ongoing investigation so that justice would not elude the 57 victims of the massacre, including 31 journalists.

“Just so justice would not elude us again, Bangon Pilipinas will continue to call for public vigilance on the ongoing investigations,” Bro. Eddie said.

Bro. Eddie also called on volunteers of Bangon Pilipinas all over the country to organize and extend necessary humanitarian assistance to the families of the journalist killed in Maguindanao.

Bro. Eddie expressed fears that the case build-up against some members of the Ampatuan family could be jeopardized with the contamination of the crime scene while operatives retrieve the bodies of the victims.

“The fact-finding team’s report said that the retrieval team from the military and police was clearly assigned to achieve only one task: get the bodies out,” Bro. Eddie said.

“There was little or no consideration given to preserving the evidence. There was little or no consideration given to avoid the contamination of the crime scene,” he added.

Bro. Eddie said this development could give substance to what the public has been thinking all along, “that justice might take long to come because, from the beginning, pieces of evidence were not properly secured”.

Bro. Eddie, himself a long-time columnist and television personality, said 21 out of 31 mediamen killed in Maguindanao have children.

“These children thus become victims themselves. How do we even begin the healing of these hurting orphans?” said Bro. Eddie.