MSU alumni in Iligan, GenSan pay tribue to Oquendo

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews) -- Activists and development workers in Lanao areas who are alumni of Mindanao State University-main campus will organize a simple tribute this weekend for Cynthia Oquendo, 35-year old lawyer who was one of at least 57 victims in the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23, 2009. Other alumni of the university will stage an indignation rally at General Santos city's plaza on December 1 to demand justice for victims.

Carino Antequisa of Cafod and his wife Regina Antequisa of Ecoweb Inc, comrades of Oquendo, said her death would not be totally wasted as this brutal incident would hasten the change they hope to bring to Maguindanao.”

“With all eyes and attention on Maguindanao right now, from local to international, we're hopeful that the much needed change in this violence-filled province could be realized in a faster pace, although may not be that easy considering the power and clout of the Ampatuan clan believed to be behind the gruesome act,” they said.

The MSUalumni.ning.com also posted on its front page Oquendo's photo as it condemned the mass murder.

The Global MSUans Network (GMN) also "joins in strongly demanding that the perpetrators and the masterminds be brought to justice and account for their barbaric and dastardly acts."

The network, with 10, 200 members, expressed their sympathies to the victims’ relativers “most specially our own Cynthia Oquendo" even as she wasn't able to finish her education at MSU.

"You will never be forgotten. You may be gone in this world, but your spirit will live forever in the eyes, hearts and minds of all peace-loving citizens. May you rest in eternal peace, safe in the knowledge that your death was not made in vain," the GMN said. [More at MindaNews]