Women massacred twice over in Maguindanao bloodshed Maza to file resolution calling for justice for victims

“Women victims in the Maguindanao massacre were massacred twice over--- their lives were brutally taken and they were sexually violated. I condemn in strongest terms these most reprehensible acts of violence.”

Rep. Liza Maza said today amid reports of the Department of Justice that the 22 women victims in the Maguindanao massacre were shot at their genitals, although it has yet to be determined and confirmed by the DOJ if the women were raped.

Maza said she will file a resolution for Congress to conduct an investigation on the sexual violence and murder of 22 women, at least one of them pregnant, among the the 57 victims in the Maguindanao massacre.

Maza cited Sec.9 of the newly enacted Magna Carta of Women that states that “the State shall ensure that all women shall be protected from all forms of violence as provided for in existing laws. Agencies of government shall give priority to the defense and protection of women against gender-based offenses and help women attain justice and healing.”

The resolution will call for justice for the women victims, for the State to eradicate the threats that loom before women especially during the election period, and to uphold and guarantee the human rights, particularly of the right to political participation, of women. ###