Maguindanao: A Cry for Justice, a brief documentary about the 23 November, 2009, massacre of 58 civilians (including 32 journalists) in a region of the Mindanao, southern Philippines. The court case against 200 soldiers, policemen, politicians, and others, is unprecedented in Filipino history, not only numerically, but because prosecutors are going after the Ampatuans, an immensely wealthy and powerful family that continues to enjoy widespread support and control throughout much of the Philippines, but especially in Mindanao.
The Philippines has one of the most quickly developing economies in the world and is expected to have one of the largest by 2050, according to the CIA, IMF, World Bank, and other NGOs and IGOs. However, this documentary has me worried that continued insecurity of the southern region, the anti-development stranglehold imposed by powerful families, and the snail pace of the federal government to implement justice, is a potential obstacle to better materially supporting its citizens.