Martial Law In Maguindanao In Effect: 62 Arrested

Philippines arrests 62 after imposing martial law

by Cecil Morella

AFP

SHARIFF AGUAK, Philippines (AFP) – The Philippines said Sunday it had detained more than 60 people and seized a stunning array of weapons after imposing martial law in a southern province in the wake of a massacre.
A total of 62 people were swept up in raids over the weekend, including 15 taken from a ranch owned by clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Snr where the military found a cache of powerful rifles buried in a grassy area, police said.
Authorities said the decision to impose martial law in Maguindanao province from Friday night was needed to quell a rebellion by the clan, whose leaders were accused of being behind last month's massacre that left 57 people dead.
"Martial law (allowed) the security forces to really go after these suspects who are part of the rebellion, maybe some of whom are possible suspects in the recent massacre," said Andres Caro, the national police chief of operations.
The mass murders occurred on November 23, when 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted and shot dead female relatives of a rival politician, plus a group of journalists and civilians, in a remote farming area of Maguindanao. Related article: Philippine massacre suspects rule over squalor
Ampatuan Snr, the governor of Maguindanao, as well as four other family members were detained Saturday in the initial raids following the imposition of martial law.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said Sunday that leaders of the clan now in detention would be charged with rebellion.
The rebellion charges are separate from murder cases being prepared against them over the massacre, she said.
"We did not see them plotting against the government, we saw the deed done. They have usurped power from the government there," Devanadera told DZBB radio.
"This is not ordinary chaos taking place in one area, this has an armed component. And there is removal of allegiance from the republic of the Philippines by the leaders of this group."
The Ampatuan family is a Muslim clan that had ruled the province for most of the decade with the backing of private armies and the suppport of President Gloria Arroyo's ruling coalition.
Justifiying the controversial move to impose martial law, the government said large numbers of heavily armed gunmen loyal to the Ampatuans had threatened to attack if the clan chiefs were taken into custody.
The government alleged the Ampatuans had illegally amassed a stunning array of military hardware that it was prepared to use in the rebellion.

Thousands of soldiers and police poured into the provincial capital, Shariff Aguak, and other Maguindanao towns after martial law was imposed to detain the Ampatuans and their militiamen, as well as find the weapons. Related article: Farmers flee over fears of violence
On Saturday, security forces retrieved 340,000 rounds of ammunition, several assault rifles and a home-made armoured car at a warehouse owned by the Ampatuans.
On Sunday, about more 40 firearms, including M16 assault rifles, and dozens of boxes of ammunition were found on a property believed to be owned by Ampatuan Snr, the military said.
"Our suspicions are proving right, we believe there are more weapons hidden," regional army commander Colonel Leo Ferrer said. "Our operations are continuing so we can limit the military capability of those concerned."
Ferrer said the army has not encountered any armed resistance so far.
"But we are prepared to face these threats," he said.
The biggest reported discovery came on Thursday when the military found what it said were enough weapons and ammunitions to arm two battalions, or 1,000 soldiers, buried in a vacant lot near the Ampatuans' compound of homes.
The military said this finding was one of the triggers for it recommending to Arroyo that martial law be imposed.
One of Ampatuan Snr's sons, Andal Ampatuan Jnr, has already been charged with 25 counts of murder over the massacre. Police last week filed indictments recommending the clan chief and other relatives also be charged.
Police allege Ampatuan Jnr and his gunmen shot dead the occupants of a convoy that included female relatives of his rival for the post of governor in next year's elections, as well as about 30 journalists.
Before the massacre, Arroyo's government had supported the Ampatuans as part of its campaign to use powerful local clans to contain Muslim rebels whose bloody insurgency since the 1970s has left over 150,000 dead.

Source: 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091206/ts_afp/philippinesmassacrepolitics
Copyright belongs to the author Cecil Morella and AFP (Agence France Presse)

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Rumors are circulating around coffee shops and even in social networks and forums. The rumor is that the  President Arroyo had to shut down the Ampatungans especially the two governors because they were allegedly threatening the current president to expose the alleged anomalies committed in the Certificate of Canvass last 2007 elections wherein the vote was 12-0 in favor of the administration candidates.

Accordingly, if the president will not support the Ampatungans, the latter will spill the beans about the election fraud that happened in Maguindanao. Maybe this was the initial reason why the government was relaxed in hunting down the murderers and when the suspected Mayor Andal Ampatungan Jr. "surrendered", we all saw the laxity as compared to those who committed petty crimes like simple theft. This was probably the initial gesture of political friendship that Malacanang had to offer.

However, there is a big clamor for justice since 28 media practitioners were also killed in the massacre. The noise is too much for the Ampatungans so allegedly they again asked the President for support in exchange of keeping quiet on the past election issue. This time the president cannot give in to the favor since the whole world is looking at her and such actions may be detrimental to her career extension in congress. So allegedly, the plan was to shut down the voice of the Ampatungans and it can be done completely only if martial law was to be implemented and all the evidence sequestered.

This rumor maybe true or maybe not and there are so many questions yet to be answered. Clarity to this rumor will soon be available thanks to the wonderful world of social networking where you can find interesting answers to issues nowadays.

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And so I say...

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WatWatWorld: Philippine Political Organization Mushroom (Lilitaw - Lulubog)

As early as two years ago, I already noticed the formation of different organizations and associations geared towards the 2010 elections. Recently, Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Twitter are commonly used to boost up their membership. Creating a political organization prior to an election is a common practice and just like mushrooms, many of this organizations disappear after the elections. Politicians commonly use the youth sector in mobilizing membership by promising a good platform and objectives. Fact is, every politician has his/her own platform to show during the campaign period but more often than not, the realization of the platforms presented remains to be seen. If you follow the history of Philippine elections, it maybe safe to say that after elections, the platforms earlier presented remains in the piece of paper where it was written. Only a few really practice what they are introducing during a campaign.

Promises are also common in political organizations even if the members join as "volunteers", in many cases, these volunteers end up as cash cows or foot soldiers with a promise that if the candidate they are fighting for will win, they will receive some incentives either in form of grants, scholarships, positions, jobs or contracts. Allegedly, the political organizers also "earn" because they handle the channeled finances for the organization. However, we will not deny that there are also organizers and volunteers who really believes in what they are campaigning for thus doing it in their own free will and sacrifices. I have seen this before in our province wherein volunteers really used their own money, time and effort to campaign for a senatorial candidate. After the election was over, the volunteers where not even recognized. The organizers got all the thank you's and wishes. Soon after, the organization faded away.

The most common victims of political organization mushrooms are "promdi's" like me. All of a sudden organizations are mushrooming all over the provinces. Fact is, those people organizing are more often than not the same faces you saw organizing for another party or politician during previous elections. I call them "political dance instructors", and I will allege that they are earning a living or even more from what they are doing.

Political organization mushrooms maybe temporary in nature but they serve their purpose very well. I may not agree on how the organizers manipulate volunteers but at the end of the day, something is achieved and that is the spreading of political awareness from the national capital region to the far flung areas in the provinces. This is the only time where politics and politicians reach the ends of the provinces and the only time where "promdi's" like me can see our favorite actors and actresses in person.
To illustrate, if there are 100 politicians running for President, there will be 100 or more political organizations that will mushroom up and each of these newly born mushroom will have their own programs, policies and platforms to show. Each mushroom will try to gather as mush volunteers and as history dictates, the volunteers will stand their ground for the candidate they are endorsing even if it means physically fighting with the other political mushrooms. Again, at the end of the day, whatever the result is, the political candidate may not even know what is happening in the field.

All having said, even if these organizations are actually historical mushrooms,  I believe they still serve the purpose even for a limited time. These purposes are:
1. To spread political awareness up to the ends of each province and islands in the Philippines;
2. To gather the sentiments and needs of the people;
3. To bring medical missions and a plastic of goods containing 1 kilo of rice, two noodles and 2 cans of sardines to the poor communities;
4. To give a sense of power or control to the ordinary people; and
5. To bring actors, actresses, comedians, dancers and singers to entertain the people in the province for free!
What can you say?

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LATEST AND MOST GRUESOME MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE PICS RELEASED. (www.watwatworld.com last and final video on this issue)

This Final Video released by watwatworld.com contains the most gruesome, barbaric and violent pictures related to the Maguindanao Massacre. This video will remind us all on the evil effect of Warlordism and lack of political will on the part of the government. Nobody is above the law. No person can take away a man's life as he pleases.

This video will remind the government that having too much power in the hands of a few is dangerous.
This will remind the lawmakers - legislators  - congressmen - that laws are more important than pork barrels..
This will remind the judiciary that justice is applicable to both rich and poor.

This will remind the world that tolerating the existence of warlords, political dynasties, and private armies are not in any way helping the common people and that they have their own personal laws over and above the constitution.

In sad times like this, the people rely on the equal protection and application of the laws. I just hope that the privileges like hospital arrests cannot be extended in gruesome cases like this.

Please be advised when watching. Do not let your children watch this video.

Latest news on the witnesses: 

At least three witnesses in the mass killing of 57 people in Maguindanao have pointed to Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. as one of the armed men that intercepted the convoy of the Mangudadatus last November 23. They claimed that they were on board the cars that had been trailing the convoy led by the Mangudadatu women on that fateful day.But when they entered Ampatuan town, the convoy was flagged down by gunmen in what seemed to be a checkpoint. The witnesses saw “many police cars.".


Philippines: The Maguindanao Massacre
Monday, 30 November 2009, 1:02 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Philippines: How Could The 'Maguindanao Massacre' Been Allowed To Happen?

("We don’t care about it, we don’t know about it" – the Acting Head of the Provincial Police)

As it has been widely reported, 57 people-including two human rights lawyers and 30 journalists - were slaughtered on November 23 in Maguindanao, a province in central Mindanao. While much of the stories and worldwide condemnation focused on the number of, and manner of the deaths - describing them as gruesome, barbaric and animalistic amongst others things, the Filipino people, even in this country's war-torn southern part, still grapple in disbelief as to how it could have happened.

It is incomprehensible, not only to the Filipino people, but the international community as to how, in an area with a modicum of governance and law enforcement and the right to the protection of life could have been so easily dismissed in a democratic state. How is it possible that a group of over 100 armed men, reportedly led by a scion of a powerful political clan, the Ampatuans, blocked a convoy of vehicles of over 50 people in broad daylight, took them to a remote hilly area, executed them and then buried them in shallow graves?

There were indications that the massacre was premeditated and thoroughly planned; for example, the graves where the 57 dead bodies had been buried had already been excavated using a government-owned backhoe. Its engine was still running when the soldiers arrived at the scene of the massacre after they had received reports of the incident. When the soldiers arrived, dead bodies littered the scene, vehicles used in the convoy were riddled with bullets and three of the vehicles had been flattened and buried together with the dead bodies. (Photo: Concepcion “Connie” Brizuela, lawyer, victim; source: Inqiurer.net)

Before the massacre happened, some journalists had already received information that should they persist in covering the filing of Certificates of Candidacy of (CoC) of Esmael Mangudadatu, they would be killed and buried. However, because they were given assurance by Alfredo Cayton, commanding general of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, that they could push through telling them that area is safe, the group decided to proceed. The group also had seriously discussed matters on security arrangements for two hours before leaving. It was unfortunate though that organisers and the group of journalists may have underestimated the situation. Threats of this nature are common in this part of the country.

Mangudadatu is a bitter political rival of one of Ampatuan's scions, Andal Ampatuan Jr, incumbent town mayor of Datu Unsay, a town named after him by his father, Andal Ampatuan Sr., who is also the incumbent provincial governor of Maguindanao. The younger Ampatuan is now considered the prime suspect in the slaughter, according to witnesses. After his arrest on Thursday, November 26, he is being held in detention at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila.

The carnage left Esmael's wife, Genalyn; his two sisters, Eden and Farida Sabdula; several of his political supporters; two human rights lawyers, Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo; and 30 journalists dead. Brizuela and Oquendo were assisting Mangudadatus' wife, Genalyn, to file the CoC on behalf of her husband at the provincial election office in Maguindanao while the journalists were covering the would-be filing. The event, in the local context, would have been a big story for local journalists as the filing was an act upon which the Mangudadatus, also a powerful political clan in the adjacent province, Sultan Kudarat, would be challenging the Ampatuans for a gubernatorial post.

The younger Ampatuan is reported to have been groomed by his father to run as governor for the May 2010 general elections. The elder Ampatuan is the close ally of the Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party; and had served as the governor of Maguindanao, a province under the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), for three consecutive terms as governor. Three of Ampatuans’ political leaders were expelled from the President's political party because of the massacre.

The Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus are bitter rivals and powerful political clans in the local politics. In this southern part of the country, the notion of governing for the 'common good of constituents, good governance, rule of law and human rights and democracy' has hardly ever existed. The politicians' motivation in running for public office is for protecting their territory, expanding their influence and cementing their de facto absolute control into the affairs of the local government--from the civilian administration, to the security forces. The security forces were there to serve the local political elite, rather than enforcing law and order.

In Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, the display of wealth and power can be illustrated by the huge palaces that these political leaders of the province have built, dwarfing the town and shanties of their constituents. The province is one of the poorest in Mindanao, and is a long term recipient of foreign development aid. The constituents in remote municipalities have been for decades victims of massive protracted displacements, killings and abductions and summary executions either by the government or military forces in the decades-old conflict in Mindanao. Thus, the people's threshold to violence is higher than other place, but the extent of this massacre is, even for them difficult to comprehend.

That the alleged mastermind, the younger Ampatuan, was reported to have been able to command and have given the order to kill the victims is well established and illustrates the local government's policy in funding, training and recruiting militia forces. The Civilian Volunteer Organisation (CVO) is one of the government's militia forces and is also accused of having been involved in the Maguindanao massacre. The functioning of the CVO should have been under the control and oversight of the Philippine National Police (PNP); however, the existing system is so heavily politicized, effectively making the police authorities underdogs of the politicians.

The top local executive has the authority to expel, appoint and recommend, for example, who should be the head of the provincial police and the head of the town police. The local executives also decide whether or not the local police and its security unit should be given budget allocations from the local government's coffer for their operation. This deliberately brings the policemen and security units under the politician's control and influence. The extent of the policemen's control by the politicians has been affirmed and shown when Esmael, upon learning of the massacre, was told by the acting head of the Maguindanao provincial police when he sought his assistance that: "Wala kaming paki-alam d'yan, hindi namin alam 'yan (“We don’t care about it, we don’t know it”).

After the massacre, the PNP had to relieve six of its top officials in Maguindanao for their alleged complicity--the chief of police of Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan towns and three other police inspectors from their position. According to the PNP though, they are not yet considered as suspects, but reports indicate that one of them, was seen by the witnesses to be present at the scene when the victims were executed. Also, it would be difficult to accept that these top policemen would not know of the presence of heavily armed men in their area of jurisdiction. The national highways of these towns where the convoy passed also had check points of only few hundred meter distance from one place to the other - either set up by soldiers, policemen or militia forces - thus, it is hard to believe that they would not know of the movement of armed men, unless they were complicit or had been co-opted.

When the convoy was blocked and the victims subsequently executed, reason dictates that the victims may have thought the perpetrators would not do such horrendous acts. They unfortunately walked to the grave virtually blindfolded for reasons that their numbers and composition - there were over 50 of them mostly women – that the town mayor who was the prime suspect, the government's militia forces and armed civilians; and the policemen, who were seen by witnesses at the crime scene were all present.

The killing of 30 journalists, mostly local journalists, is the largest number of deaths in a single incident in the Philippines' recent history. It has virtually crippled the press freedom in this part of the country. The fight for press freedom and right to information itself is a notion that local journalists had struggled to fight for. Before the massacre, some of the journalists who were reporting on the corrupt practices of the government officials in these provinces were themselves subjected to threats. At least two journalists had already been killed in the past, one of whom was Marlene Esperat in October 2006 in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. (Photo: journalist victims, from left to right: Marites Cablitas, Gina Dela Cruz and Marife Montaño; source MindaNews)

As one of the eyewitnesses to the massacre said, they were just following orders when the alleged mastermind ordered them to shoot and kill not only the relatives of the Mangudadatus but also the human rights lawyers, the journalist; and all of those who had joined the convoy. This eyewitness had come out in an exclusive television interview but is said to have gone into hiding. There are also several other persons who had witnessed and survived the massacre but are too frightened to come forward.

The plight of the witnesses and the survivors also exposed the realities of the absence of any protection mechanism within the country. At least three of the journalists who survived the massacre sent feelers out to the Department of Justice (DoJ) informing them of what information they had to help the investigation and prosecution of the case, but they (the DoJ) paid no attention, according to the survivor's family. Like the eyewitness, these survivors too had to take their own security measures to protect themselves. It is also not practical to seek for a police escort since one of the policemen relieved from his post was once assigned in the survivors' hometown; and given the small community of journalists there--who often covers the police and military beats--even without exposing their names, those who want them dead know where they can be located.

Also, how could the survivors consider asking for police protection when, in fact, prior to covering the filing of CoCs the Mangudadatus, had already sought police and military protection. Such request was rejected. The military had to excuse themselves saying they were unable to provide escorts because their troops were deployed somewhere and that providing escorts is primarily a police duty; while the policemen to whom the group had sought security escort for the convoy turned out to have reportedly were complicit or had taken part to the massacre.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOUR PRESIDENT-CANDIDATE WILL WIN?

2010 Philippine elections presidential candidatesWhat will happen if a particular candidate will become the next President of the Philippines? If this is YOUR president, then you are responsible for whatever actions and decisions that he makes.

This is an article from a critique point of view.

To start with, there is this question: why will a candidate spend millions and even billions for an elective position that has a standard salary and will not recover the spent amount during election campaigns?  In short, will you spend for example 1billion pesos for a salary of P50K a month? No politician is that stupid. Religious or not, there's always a catch no matter who that politician is. Sorry.

President JC Delos Reyes, the youngest presidential candidate under the Kapatiran party. Principled and has a platform to follow. However, sticking too much to the Catholic religion during forums is a minus factor. So called Christians, Muslims and other religious sects will find it hard to vote for JC. Of all the presidential wannabees, JC Delos Reyes has the cleanest background. But, if he wins as the president, at least I can see a new reform from a principled of politician.

President Eddie Villanueva, a political professor turned religious leader. Has a solid background on Philippine political studies and a huge religious following under the Jesus Is Lord movement. Just like JC Delos Reyes, Villanueva is associated closely to a religious movement, so no matter how good his platform is, his chances of winning is slim. The Philippines is a country somewhat controlled by religious leaders and by such having a dominance over a certain sector of the society is a must. Therefore, no religious denomination will let itself be under the control of another. It a matter of pride and numbers. In Villanueva's case, he may have a good program, but he must first please other religious communities. But if he will win as the president, I don't know... maybe this country will turn into a God fearing nation.

President Bayani Fernando, has always used the words "political will" as a campaign slogan. He has done some changes in Metropolitan Manila as the former MMDA chairman. Often times, misunderstandings with the city mayors come up because his decisions are unpopular. However, he implemented his projects regardless of its unpopularity. Unless he gets help from the "new generation", his chances of winning is slim. Having a following in Metro Manila alone will not ensure him of a presidential seat. But if he wins as the president, there will be control and chaos at the same time. Practicing the power of political will has its own downsides.

President Noynoy Aquino, is considered the big name to beat in the race for that presidential seat. Regardless of how he or his sister defends his rise to popularity, the fact remains that he became a presidential candidate out of the popular shadows of his parents. He can win any seat aside from presidency using his family name alone. He has a large arsenal of yellow followers and a party with numerous political turncoats. He may stand a chance in the race. However, a question remains on his capacity to run a country. But if he will win as the president, I see no major change. Same old politicians with new party alliance is not a solution and oftentimes party objectives become a mere piece of paper. Also, there is a big possibility that showbiz personalities end up in key government positions instead of those who are learned and qualified. But then again, maybe Noynoy can deliver a change outside of the box that we see, Obama style.

President Erap Estrada, is old news with new partners. He has the biggest legal battle to face if he wins as president. Relying too much on the "masa power" today may not deliver the desired number of votes. But if he wins as the president, his time will be divided in taking care of the country and attending to the legal cases filed against him. Also, he has to guard his vice president 25hours /day.

President Manny Villar, is the big spender. Allegedly, he already spent close to a billion pesos on TV, radio and print ads. More often than not, during interview,  all you can hear from him is his story from being poor in the market and streets of Tondo  to becoming rich due to Real Estate and Development Contracts. He has a strong following and party affiliates. Considering his money and machinery, he maybe able to pull this off. However, the question on "ROI" is running along his side. Some say that since he is a contractor and developer, all contracts will run a tele novela bidding and contracts will be awarded to his favor. His intentions maybe good, but it remains to be seen. But if he wins as the president, there maybe some advantages because for one, development will surely be on the upswing. Roads and bridges will be concreted, big buildings, real estate developments. The downside is that he is not seen as pro agriculture, in fact he does not discuss pro-agriculture issues. Between a pro developer and a pro-agriculture, which will you choose?

President Gilbert Teodoro, called as "mr. dapat" because of his political commercials. He has the backing of the present government and the powerful machinery of the largest Philippine political party. His intentions to become the president maybe good but it seems he is having a hard time shaking off his closeness with the current and unpopular president. It's like new cover for an old news. In the election field, it is a minus minus. However, of all the presidential candidates, I believe that his wits and intelligence is useful in running a country. He answers questions intelligently and has ready answers even for the difficult ones. It's just so sad he is running under the unpopular party. But if he will become the next president, he may do fine so long as he does not have to pay so much political debts just like the present one.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, if your president will win and he acts not according to your expectations... you will be the one to be blamed. If the country falls apart, you blame yourself. Remember, in this election period, NOTHING SEEMS TO BE TRUE and EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE RIGHT. In tagalog: Lahat ng kadidato mabait kasi may kailangan sila sa iyo, pero pagkatapos ng election, hinde ka nila kilala.

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Young guns, young terror, ( PCIJ investigation in Maguindanao )

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Young guns, young terror

by Jaileen F. Jimeno

Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

ALL OVER the world, the practice of engaging children and teenagers in criminal gangs and private armies continues unabated. The Philippines is no exception.
A little-known academic study documents how minors are being recruited down south in private armies better known as civilian volunteers organizations or CVOs. These groups help keep village adults in a perpetual state of fear and obeisance, even if some of the “volunteers” have not moved past puberty.
The 80-page study was conducted across a five-month period in 2003 by researchers led by Agnes Zenaida Camacho of the University Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UCIDS) at the University of the Philippines.
It focused on three towns of Maguindanao and the use of minors by the pagali or clan to keep itself in power. The researchers interviewed 10 young CVO members, who had to be assigned pseudonyms in the report, for their own protection.
Most of the young CVO members were recruited into the armed group as replacement for their fathers who had been killed in action, the researchers learned. Of the 10 interviewees, only two were 18 years old at the time they started working for a pagali. One interviewee was drafted into CVO service when he was only 10 years old, and the seven others, in their early teens.
UCIDS noted that while the CVOs were organized to assist in defending towns against insurgents, “in certain parts of the Philippines, local politicians are reportedly heavily arming and using members of CVOs in their respective localities as private armies.”
An unpaid family loan to the pagali compelled one child to join the CVO. Yet when he was ready to pay, the pagali head, a mayor, gave the child a gun and ordered him to kill someone before his payment would be accepted. Left with no choice, the child said he did as he was told.
Disobedience entails serious punishment. “Failing to follow orders to murder a pagali enemy is punishable by death,” the researchers said.
For most of the interviewees, however, conscription into the CVO unfolds as a slow process. The new entrants are given small jobs at first, like escorting members of the clan when they venture outside their homes. The recruits do this with issued firearms in tow. Once their loyalty and adherence to the code of silence is proven, they are inducted into “malalaking lakad (big jobs),” mainly involving crime, the researchers said.
“From the interviews with the children, these range from kidnapping, extortion, instigating displacement, murder, torture, and drug trafficking,” the report said.
Among the most benign activities that the CVO members said they did was to collect P20 from vehicles passing the highway. There are other tasks. An interviewee said he was assigned to a pagali’s marijuana plantation near the province’s marshlands.
Others said they served in the pagali’s “business” ventures, including dealing in shabu or metamphetamine hydrochloride, and doubled as dealers. The report said the illegal trade reached as far as General Santos City, Davao City, and Manila, the report revealed.
To one interviewee, these transactions explain how a pagali could afford to live it up. “How do you think they are able to afford a mansion or luxury cars?” the interviewee asked.
The report unravelled more details. “Another child interviewee said that the pagali in his area, a mayor, conducted ‘operations’ or raids against selected areas particularly after the rice harvesting season — to steal the crops after the residents of the target areas had evacuated their homes and farms.”
“I guess that’s why some CVOs have gotten used to stealing,” the researchers said, quoting one of the interviewees as saying. “When you think about it, the mayor is really behind everything.”
The UCIDS study abound with even more gruesome stories, notably one told by “Rudy,” who was recruited into a CVO unit when he was 17.
A scion of the pagali had been killed in a bomb blast, and soon after, three teenagers suspected of involvement were brought to the compound of another son of the clan’s chief.
The three suspects met tragic deaths. “One was killed using machetes, while another was peppered with bullets,” the UCIDS report said Rudy had recounted. “The eldest of the youths suffered the worst: his limbs were cut off using a chain saw.”
The CVO members were directed to put salt in the suspect’s wounds and then “(they) cut parts of his body with a chain saw while he was still alive,” Rudy had narrated. The CVO members present were later instructed to dump the suspects’ bodies in a nearby river.
What might well pass for a culture of keeping armed men could be likened to “pagali dictatorship,” according to the researchers. Apart from ensuring the clan’s dominance, it accords a pagali an aura of machismo.
By their reckoning, the researchers said that the higher the position of an official, the more armed men he commands, but most especially if he is the leader of the clan or occupies an important position in the pagali.
Yet for all the unwholesome duties they perform for the pagali, CVO members collect paltry pay. Their salaries vary, with some receiving P1,000 a month, and others, P3,000.
On occasion, when the pagali boss is feeling generous, they get a bonus of rice and clothes.
Rudy, however, has not been as blessed with such windfall. In fact, he said that for a long time, he did not get whatever benefits he was supposed to. And months after he was interviewed by the UCIDS researchers, Rudy was killed in a encounter between soldiers and separatist rebels. He was 25.
Still and all, the “chainsaw story” he told the researchers has somehow outlived Rudy. By all indications, he had evolved into a legend of sort in Maguindanao.
When the PCIJ visited recently, some village folk said they know who were behind the gruesome murders and where these happened. Advisedly, they said that they are too scared to go on record on this story or they might be the next ones to hear the buzz of a chain saw.

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The Maguindanao Massacre

Why Andal Ampatuan Jr. Thought
He Could Get Away With It

by Alex Tizon, Knight International Journalism Fellow

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

THE BODY count of the Maguindanao Massacre has gone up each of the past five days. The count is now at 57, with authorities continuing to sift through the blood-soaked dirt just outside the town of Shariff Aguak. Thirty of the victims were journalists and at least twenty-two were women. The women were raped and their genitals shot at close range.

Expect the numbers to change in the coming days. What will likely not change is the identity of the accused mastermind of the killings: a smug, round-faced blip of a man named Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local mayor and the son of a powerful political patriarch who is allied with no less than the president of the Philippines.
The suspect reportedly ordered the massacre to prevent a rival politician from challenging him in the upcoming gubernatorial election. According to at least twenty eyewitnesses who have testified to the Department of Justice, it was Ampatuan’s plan to ambush the caravan of six cars, kill all the occupants and then bury the victims and their vehicles in large pre-dug pits. Burying the victims, he thought, would erase the evidence.
Ampatuan actually believed he could get away with it. But the plan went awry when word spread that army soldiers were in the area and the attackers panicked, leaving a half-buried massacre scene. So frenzied were those last moments that even the operator of the government backhoe used to dig the pits was reportedly killed to minimize witnesses.
Word trickled out and by Tuesday the whole world knew about the Nov. 23 massacre. For the rest of the week officials have filled the airwaves and front pages with their horrified reactions but it doesn’t take a telepath to know that some of the “horror” was for the benefit of the international audience.
For those not familiar with contemporary life in the Philippines, it must be pointed out that political violence here is a norm, and that people like Andal Ampatuan Jr. are no aberration. There are many more like him scattered like vermin droppings throughout the country. The system creates Ampatuans.
The reason Monday’s incident became international news is because of the high number of victims killed all at once and because so many were journalists and women. Had the killings been spread out over weeks and months, very few outside of the province would have heard of it.
“The massacre in Maguindanao may stand out for a long time for its brazenness, but the forces that shaped it are by no means isolated or peculiar to Muslim Mindanao,” writes Randy David in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. David is a sociology professor at the University of the Philippines. “These forces lurk in many regions of our country….”
I’m in the Philippines to work on a poverty-related media project called Suriin Ang Kahirapan or Audit of Poverty. One of the aims is to create a network of citizen journalists in the country’s five poorest provinces. Maguindanao is one of the Suriin provinces.
In all five of the Suriin provinces, there is a dynastic political family like the Ampatuans and a hatchet man – or two or three – like Andal Ampatuan Jr. Until Monday, none have been foolhardy enough to slay all their enemies in one fell swoop. The usual modus operandi is to knock them off one at a time and as quietly as possible.
For instance, in the Suriin province of Masbate, an island north of Mindanao, there have reportedly been as many as 30 politically related murders over the past year, and many of the killings can be tied to one family that has been in power for years. All know the name but no one will say it out loud. Who would dare? Like in Maguindanao, most of the local police and military take their orders from the ruling family. Those who have dared cross family members end up shot on some lonely stretch of gravel, their corpses no more than road kill. Hardly anyone on the outside knows – or cares – about the killings in Masbate.
In Maguindanao, the Ampatuans have controlled local politics for most of the decade, and the current governor, Andal Ampatuan Sr., had been grooming his son to take over his post. The Ampatuans had grown accustomed to running unopposed in local elections, so terrified were potential opponents.
So when one rival announced he would oppose Ampatuan for the governorship, the clan was incensed. The heretic, a local vice mayor named Esmael Mangudadatu, sent his wife and two sisters – accompanied by a retinue of lawyers and journalists – to the county seat to file his certificate of candidacy, apparently believing that not even the Ampatuans would murder women in cold blood. It was this caravan that was intercepted and massacred. Some of the victims reportedly were forced to eat filing documents before they were shot.
Ampatuan family members “act like gods” in Maguindanao, Leila de Lima told the Armed Forces of the Philippines. De Lima, chairwoman of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, said there have been similar, but smaller-scale killings, linked to the Ampatuan family, but up until now witnesses have been afraid to come forward.
Today, Ampatuan sits in a Manila jail awaiting further proceedings. He was persuaded to turn himself in on Thursday by an emissary sent by President Gloria Arroyo herself. Many believe the administration was forced to act because of overwhelming international pressure. The emissary, special advisor Jesus Dureza, accompanied Ampatuan on government aircraft all the way to Manila where, upon parting, Dureza and Ampatuan shook hands and hugged.
Can you imagine the president of the United States sending an ambassador to negotiate with a man suspected of wiping out 64 people, and then having that ambassador accompany the suspect on private aircraft to the nation’s Capitol where they say good-bye with a hug? A hug!? Can you imagine President Clinton providing red-carpet treatment to Branch Davidian leader David Koresh or Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh?
The Ampatuans have long been coddled by officials high in government. The Ampatuans were well-known allies of Arroyo, and have been photographed together with the president in various locations including Malacanang (the equivalent of the White House). The Ampatuans “delivered” Maguindanao province to Arroyo in the last election, and did so with frightening efficacy, signing up entire towns and villages – often with not a single dissenting vote.
The administration, in return, has taken a hands-off approach to Maguindanao. Provincial officials, for example, can choose their own police chiefs and officers, many of whom end up as bodyguards or hitmen. These officials also end up using taxpayer money, intended for anti-terrorist programs, to deputize and arm groups of mercenaries officially known as Civilian Volunteer Officers, or CVOs. The end result is that people like Ampatuan have created their own private armies and rule their territories like warlords.
It came as a surprise to no one that among those implicated in Monday’s massacre are all of Ampatuan’s CVOs, and nearly all of the highest ranking police and military officers in the province. Already their courtroom defenses have become apparent in the few interview snippets that have gone public: They were only following orders. Of course.
Ampatuan and his family hobnobbed with the president. His father was a three-term governor and his brother a governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, of which Maguindanao is a part; his relatives were mayors of half the towns; he was insulated and protected by local police, and he had his own mercenary army to do his bidding in a far-flung region populated by poor and illiterate farmers. Ampatuan believed he could get away with it because he’d been groomed all his life to think so.
There are many others like him in the country’s 83 provinces, rogues with government titles who believe they’ll never be caught. And most of them will be right. – PCIJ, November 2009
Alex Tizon is working with the PCIJ on a crowd-sourcing project that will help media track government efforts to alleviate poverty in the country’s five poorest provinces, including Maguindanao. As national correspondent of The Los Angeles Times, he has reported on the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, and as staff writer for The Seattle Times from 1986 to 2003, received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism for a series on corruption in the federal Indian Housing Program.
-  Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

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Amid the fighting, the Ampatuan clan rules in Maguindanao

Public Eye
Amid the fighting, the clan rules in Maguindanao
by Jaileen F. Jimeno, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Thursday, September 4th, 2008

MAGUINDANAO — The sound of sirens precedes the passing of a long convoy of 4×4 sport utility vehicles. As if on cue, jeepneys and private vehicles begin moving to the right side of the street, where they all then ground to halt.

“Kailangan tumabi ka, kasi babanggain ka nila. Palalabasin nilang kaaway ka (You have to get out of their way, otherwise they’ll hit your car. And then they’ll make it appear you’re one of their enemies),” explains an old man watching the scene by the roadside.

Asked if he knows whose convoy of black, heavily tinted vehicles is whizzing by, the man replies without hesitation: “Si Governor. Ganyan ang mga sasakyan niya (That’s how his vehicles look like).”



In the last two weeks, this southern province has become one of the sites of a serial cat-and-mouse battle between soldiers and rebels from a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), displacing thousands of people. But the armed clashes aside, residents here know that only one family wields real power in Maguindanao: the Ampatuans, led by its acknowledged patriarch, Governor Andal Ampatuan.

It may not only be peace between combatants but respite from political clans that Maguindanao needs.

The Ampatuans are just the latest in a long line of political dynasties that have endured in Mindanao. Yet while the Ampatuan clan has lorded over Maguindanao only since 2001, several of its members have already managed to grab key government positions, elective and appointive, and not only in the province itself. (see Table)

In 2005, Andal Ampatuan’s son Zaldy, then 38 years old, became the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the youngest ever to head the regional government.

And if the results of the recent AMMM polls are any indication, the Ampatuans seem to be digging in for the long haul. The baby-faced Zaldy took more than 90 percent of the votes among seven candidates in the ARMM elections held just a few weeks ago. His closest rival Indanan Mayor Alvarez Isnaji got just a tad over two percent of the votes.

It did not help Isnaji any that he was battling kidnapping charges filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) against him and his son Haider, midway through the campaign. But Ma. Krizna Gomez of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) observes: “We were all surprised to not see any election campaign materials (other than Zaldy Ampatuan’s) around the province. The dynasty runs deep into the entire political set-up and this is capped by the election result itself.”

Guns, Palace blessing

Andal Ampatuan has four wives and over 30 children, and intermarriages with other political clans have made his political stock stronger. But political analysts trace the clan’s formidable clout to two main factors: guns and the blessings of Malacanang. They even note that no less than the Palace made it legal for the Ampatuans to have hundreds of armed men and women under their employ.

The 1987 Constitution bans private armed groups. In July 2006, however, the Arroyo administration issued Executive Order 546, allowing local officials and the PNP to deputize barangay tanods as “force multipliers” in the fight against insurgents. In practice, the EO allows local officials to convert their private armed groups into legal entities with a fancy name: civilian volunteer organizations (CVO).

Interestingly, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued the EO just weeks after a bombing in the Shariff Aguak public market that killed five people. Andal Ampatuan, who has survived several other ambushes, was said to have been the target.

According to a military officer who served for 16 years in ARMM — five of them in Maguindanao — Andal Ampatuan employs about 200 CVO members. The officer adds that Ampatuan’s sons and relatives maintain armed men, supposedly for their protection. (Andal’s eldest son Saudi was killed in a bomb blast in Shariff Aguak 2002.)

“Everybody carries firearms, mga paltik (homemade guns),” says the military officer. “Or (they) either borrow from the military or the PNP, or they buy.”

A soldier who spent five years on assignment in Maguindanao says of the CVOs here: “They support the internal security requirement of the capitol or the municipio.” He adds that while some of the CVOs are paid by the local government in areas where they serve, they are often “borrowed” for personal use by local officials.

And whenever they board the back of spiffy pickups that are staples of Ampatuan convoys, these CVO members typically lug long firearms. At times, the convoys of 20 vehicles or more also begin and end with pickups mounted with big machine guns.

Indeed, long before the military resumed chasing the MILF in earnest across the region, Maguindanao was already dotted with checkpoints. Soldiers manned entrances to municipal halls, and armored vehicles hogged major road networks.

PCIJ tried for months to interview Andal Ampatuan here and during his visits in Manila, but Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas repeatedly said the governor does not grant interviews. Instead, it has been Unas who has fielded questions from PCIJ.

In an interview with PCIJ late last year, Unas said that the older Ampatuan’s political stance has earned his clan several enemies, hence the need for heightened security. Unas explained that while previous Maguindanao leaders played footsies with secessionist forces, “Governor Ampatuan is not really sympathetic to the MILF or other forces wishing for a separatist Muslim state.”

But Datu Michael Mastura, former congressman of Maguindanao’s first district, seems less than convinced by the argument. “I will tell you, the word ‘impunity’ does not even suit it. It’s inappropriate,” he says, referring to the Ampatuans’ chronic show of force. Pointing to the clan’s numerous bodyguards and vehicles, Mastura wonders aloud: “Just imagine, how do you maintain them? How do you house them?”

No one here is ready to come forward with any answers to that, but at the very least, the presence of armed men and women helps explain why residents would rather not do anything to cross an Ampatuan. One journalist who unwittingly did is certainly thankful that all he got was a dressing-down from the provincial governor.

The journalist had helped a colleague get in touch with the Ampatuans for an article that the governor apparently perceived to be unflattering. The helpful journalist says he was summoned to the governor’s mansion and there received a tongue-lashing. “I just sat there,” he recalls, “and took it, not saying a word.”

‘Hello, Garci’ then 12-0 in ‘07

To some political analysts, it is easy to explain why the Ampatuans command solid hold on Maguindanao: The clan enjoys close ties with the Palace in faraway Manila, simply because the clan has managed to deliver the votes for administration candidates.

In its 2007 Elections Forensics Report, the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) noted: “The Ampatuan dynasty based in Maguindanao province is Arroyo’s present conduit in helping ensure her influence over the whole of Mindanao, which hosts many of the country’s grizzled but otherwise powerful political clans.”

During the 2004 presidential elections, “(Governor Andal) Ampatuan addressed the political requirement of Arroyo,” says Bobby Tuazon, CenPEG’s director for policy study, publication, and advocacy. “She needed somebody to control the votes.”

In the controversial “Hello Garci” recordings, then elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was heard saying that Maguindanao would not be “much of a problem” for President Arroyo. His words turned out to be more than prophetic, with Maguindanao giving Arroyo 193,938 votes, against the 59,892 votes obtained by popular action film star Fernando Poe Jr. In Ampatuan and Datu Piang towns, Poe even scored zero, and in the capital Shariff Aguak and other Maguindanao towns, received just a handful of votes.

In the 2007 congressional and local elections, the 12 senatorial candidates of the administration’s Team Unity slate made a clean sweep of the polls in Maguindanao, or scored 12-0, to be exact. Family members and allies of the Ampatuans who ran for local positions also clinched wins.

Maguindanao officials have since brushed off suspicions of election fraud, saying local candidates did not bother campaigning for their own seats. They say that “negotiations” were held before the elections to “amicably” settle the battle for positions. Besides, they note, many of the Ampatuan candidates had run unopposed and thus had devoted time to campaign for the administration’s senatorial slate.

In his interview with PCIJ last year, Maguindanao provincial administrator Unas said political contests here are settled even before any balloting through “consultation and consensus-building.”

“People are critical of our system and ridicule us for the manner by which we choose our leaders,” he said. But, he asserted, it is a system that works for the province, “not that demo-democracy.”

“We know that the Manila system does not fit us,” Unas said. “We have stabilized the political landscape because there’s no contest every election. This is one better way for us Muslims coming out with our leaders.”

CenPEG fellow Ely H. Manalansan Jr., however, insists that shura or the Islamic practice of consultation was not a factor in Team Unity’s 12-0 win in Maguindanao. He says that even Islamic experts dismiss such an assertion, adding, “(It) merely serves as a justification for the widespread and systematic fraud perpetrated by the administration during elections in Mindanao.”

Last year, public schoolteacher Musa Dimasidsing had also revealed that days before the 2007 vote, he had seen teachers and students writing and then putting their thumbmarks on ballots. Days after he spoke up, Dimasidsing was shot dead; his murder remains unsolved.

No ‘Big Man’ monopoly

CenPEG’s Tuazon, though, cautions against stereotyping this conduct of elections as unique to Maguindanao and ARMM. “Oligarchs also rule in Luzon and Visayas, and you will see a lot of similarities in what is happening there in the Moro homeland,” he says.

“Ampatuan is no different from (Luis) Chavit Singson,” points out Fr. Eliseo Mercado Jr., who briefly chaired the government peace panel with the MILF. Singson, former governor of Ilocos Sur in northern Luzon, has built a reputation for keeping an iron grip on his home province.

Unas himself acknowledges the perception that Ampatuan is a warlord. Reached by phone by PCIJ recently, he said, “May katotohanan din siguro. The same way na may perception na warlord sina Joson (of Nueva Ecija) at Singson, (Probably there’s truth to that. The same way there is a perception that the Josons and the Singsons are warlords).”

But the provincial administrator denied that the capitol pays for the CVOs protecting Ampatuan and his clan. He said that the CVOs are hired and funded by town mayors, while those who guard the governor are made up of soldiers, policemen, and civilians “who, as Muslims, will die for their leader.”

This relationship between leaders and the governed, said Unas, has its roots in the history of Muslim communities down south, and is found not only in Maguindanao.

Poverty, mega projects

In Mercado’s view, the resiliency of the Ampatuan clan will rest mainly on its ability to deliver the needs of its constituents. Then again, if Mercado is right, the Ampatuans’ days in power may be numbered, based on the province’s sorry showing in several sectors.

For one, despite the Ampatuans’ expanded powerbase, Maguindanao’s poverty numbers are worsening. In 2000, the poverty incidence was recorded at 59.3 percent. It grew to 60.4 percent in 2003, and rose further to 62 percent in 2006, turning Maguindanao into the third poorest province in the country.

For another, Maguindanao’s spending for education remains low, even as the elementary teacher-to-pupil ratio has worsened to 51 in school year 2005-06, from 43.9 in school year 2000-01.

These bad statistics are among the reasons why, according to the Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR) of 2005, only 39.7 percent of adults in Maguindanao have six years of basic education, compared with the national average of 84 percent.

Too, the PHDR reveals that Maguindanao has the second lowest life expectancy in the Philippines at 52 years, edged out only by Tawi-Tawi’s 51.2 years. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reports as well that the number of health stations in the province has remained stagnant at 163, from 2000 to 2006.

Amid worsening poverty and education services for its population of 600,000 as of last year, Maguindanao has been pouring money into new town halls and a bigger capitol. The latter is now estimated to cost the province about P116 million, or nearly twice as much as the original price tag of P60 million.

According to Unas, Andal Ampatuan had asked President Arroyo for help in funding the new capitol project. Arroyo, Unas said, committed an initial P20 million, paving the way for construction work to start.

The renovation project has since evolved into a government center that will feature other huge structures, including a sports-and-culture center that would cost P80 million.

Maguindanao is not lacking in funds. On top of benefiting from foreign and ARMM-funded projects, it received an internal revenue allotment (IRA) of P555 million in 2005, which grew to P633 million the following year.

Yet of the P590 million budget the capitol lined up for 2006, P124 million or 21 percent was set aside for the provincial governor’s office alone. Over P185 million or 31 percent, meanwhile, went to the salaries and benefits of the capitol’s 587 employees.

The people’s view

The people in Maguindanao offer a common opinion of Andal Ampatuan as “mabait (a good person).” One resident says, “If you need a job, he’ll provide one for you.” Another intones, “We don’t say no to him because he takes care of us.”

But such positive comments almost always come with a caveat: “Basta sundin mo ang gusto niya (As long as you do as he says).”

“He is like a pharaoh, that’s what people call him,” says Mastura, himself a member of one of Mindanao’s prominent families. “You don’t go against his wishes.”

The one person who has tried to keep the Ampatuans in check, albeit in his own turf, is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Over the years, Duterte, who is known for his tough stance against crime, has repeatedly warned various clans — not only the Ampatuans, to be sure — against “misbehaving” in Davao City. But Duterte has also zeroed in on younger Ampatuan scions for using sirens whenever they drive around Davao. In 2006, Duterte let it rip when three Ampatuan youths were arrested in his city for possession of high-powered firearms, including rifles fitted with telescopic sights, and rounds of ammunition.

“Davao City is not your kingdom,” a fuming Duterte had reportedly said. “If you want to show off, you better do it in your place, not here.”

Unfortunately for Duterte, Maguindanao has no known nightlife to keep privileged youths entertained and occupied.

Once the sun sets in this province, the roads turn empty, save for one or two vehicles rushing to their destinations, and the occasional convoy of huge, black cars and pickups flashing their lights and sounding their sirens. Invariably, the convoy carries an Ampatuan as passenger.

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Maguindanao Massacre ( Ampatuan Massacre ), Philippine Election Violence. Part I of II

A video showing the story behind the massacre. The killing and the arrest of the alleged mastermind. WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING VIDEO PHOTOS. Do not let your kids see the pictures. Part I of II. Visit www.watwatworld.com

Cadaver hunt in Maguindanao massacre ends

MANILA, November 28, 2009 (AFP) - Police have ended a grisly search for corpses and mass graves from an election-linked massacre in the southern Philippines, with the known death toll standing at 57, officials said Saturday.

The authorities dismissed several news reports that quoted a police official saying he had counted 64 bodies from the slaughter just off a farming road in the province of Maguindanao on Mindanao island.

"We ended the search yesterday," Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, the police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told reporters by telephone.

"We have 57 bodies in our official list. Of course we are still checking and if there are reports of more bodies we will verify those. But so far, the information that we have is that the total has not changed."

Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, the police chief of central Mindanao, also confirmed the toll.

The last 11 were pulled out from two adjacent mass graves on Wednesday, including five who were entombed along with three vehicles, police said.

The government has charged a local official in the area, Andal Ampatuan Jr., with ordering and taking part in the killings. He surrendered to police Thursday and has been flown to Manila where he was detained.

On Friday Ampatuan Jr. was indicted of ordering his private militia of more than 100 gunmen to open fire on the group, which included relatives of rival Muslim politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, some journalists and passing motorists who had no known quarrel with the gunmen.

Ampatuan Jr. is a mayor in the southern Philippines who until this week was an ally of President Gloria Arroyo and a member of her ruling coalition.

Eight other members of the powerful Ampatuan clan have been invited for police questioning after witnesses also linked them to the killings.

The relatives and the journalists had been travelling to an election office to nominate Mangudadatu to run against Ampatuan Jr. for the post of provincial governor in next year's elections.

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Maguindanao Massacre ( Ampatuan Massacre ), Phillipine Election Violence Part II

A video showing the story behind the massacre. The killing and the arrest of the alleged mastermind. WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING VIDEO PHOTOS. Do not let your kids see the pictures. Part II



 The alleged mastermind is locked up at the NBI detention center. However, Almost all Filipinos are looking forward to the arrest of the other culprits. Accordingly, there were more than 100 men who participated in the mass murder, they should all be arrested and face charges. No man can just kill someone even at the orders of a superior unless otherwise justified by law. If we allow ruthless killings on orders of mere individuals trying to play the role of god, then this world we live in will crumble down back to the dark ages.

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I Agree On Arroyo's Move Empwering MSMSEs

President Arroyo puts premium on MSMEs as 'weapons' vs poverty

Iloilo City (20 October) -- The administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has put a premium on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) because of the important role they play in alleviating poverty by providing Filipinos with alternative sources of income.

The President has tapped concerned government agencies and institutions to provide financial and other support to MSMEs as a means to help new and existing ones get going and sustain operations.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is the lead government agency insofar as development and promotion of MSMEs is concerned.

Among the latest batch of micro-entrepreneurs to have availed of financial assistance from the government came from Barangay Cabangcalan, Floridablanca in Pampanga. President Arroyo distributed micro-finance checks to beneficiaries from the barangay on October 18.

In her brief remarks during the activity, President Arroyo said that MSMEs, bolstered with stable micro-finance institutions such as rural banks and lending companies, are “weapons” to combat extreme poverty.

Many other MSMEs nationwide have availed of financial assistance from the government whose amount President Arroyo has vowed to triple under her Ten-Point Agenda.

According to DTI, MSMEs are defined as any business activity or enterprise engaged in industry, agri-business/services, whether single proprietorship, cooperative, partnership, or corporation whose total assets, inclusive of those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity's office, plant and equipment are situated, and must have value from P3 million to P100 million.

It is implementing the government's 2004-2010 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Plan that presents the integrated efforts to strengthen and stimulate the MSME sector so it can contribute significantly to the country's development. This Plan aims to make the sector a key factor in the country's economic growth by 2010.

With the onset of the global economic downturn, the DTI has been conducting basic entrepreneurship trainings as the agency's contribution to President Arroyo's Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) which was conceived to help Filipinos especially those in the marginalized sector cope with the effects of the crisis.

In Western Visayas, the DTI regional office here disclosed that as of September this year, 943 of more than 12,000 Ilonggos who have undergone the training have gone into business, generating P35 million new investments and more than 2,000 new jobs. (PIA 6-JSC)

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Aanhin pa ang damo kung lunod na ang kabayo?

A Commentary On The Proposed P10B Typhoon Fund
As typhoon Pepeng continues to devastate the northern part of the country, Malacanang presses for Congress’ approval of the P10 billion calamity fund to fast track the rescue and retrieval, as well as relief and rehabilitation typhoon-affected areas.
    The P10 billion calamity fund Malacanang wants approved is actually a supplemental budget it has proposed for Congress’ approval in the 2010 National Expenditure Program (NEP) which was submitted through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).


    According to a top official in Malacanang, the supplemental budget is “badly needed” considering the severity of the flooding which came just as typhoon Ondoy, another devastating typhoon that hit and severely devastated Metro Manila has left the Philippine area of responsibility.
    While it is true that funding disaster response is imperative, it is also important for the government to look for other source of fund, instead of waiting for Congress’ approval of the P10 billion it requested. 
    And since the top official said calamity fund is “badly needed”, why rattle Congress into approving a supplemental budget, which by the way, will widen the country’s deficit and add burden to the already burdened Filipino taxpayers.
    What is Malacanang waiting for in release its so-called savings?
    Aanuhin mo pa ang damo, kung lunod na ang kabayo?
    Unlike race horses, which can be stewed after loosing too many times in race derby, the kabayo we are talking about here are people who are desperately asking for help.  Either you do something about it, or forever lose their trust and confidence in you.  Flood, which is associated to garbage problem, by the way, is in fact an election issue, which explains why relief goods being distributed have stickers of with those familiar names, and faces, of opportunist politicians.  I don’t blame them for being what they are, for as long as the relief goods they distributed, are worth the votes of typhoon victims.
    Some politicians are distributing small plastics containing two instant noodles, half kilo of rice, and a sardine to as many people, with their name tag in every plastic.  Shame, shame, shame.  It is better that they text na lang their constituents prayers for their safety rather than giving them less than P50/pack of relief.  Hindi pa nakakasama ng loob.  
    Anyway, opposition lawmakers, including a few administration lawmakers, are already skeptical about the proposed supplemental budget for calamity, knowing now that there are readily available funds which can be tapped for disaster response.
    Come to think of it, how can Congress approve a supplemental budget, when the 2010 budget has not yet been approved!
    Funny but true.  It seems the government is very optimistic that its proposed budget will be approved just like that.
    Alternative budget advocates have been pressing the government to release part of the P140 billion government savings in 2008 to fund disaster relief and rehabilitation eve before typhoon Pepeng came in.
    The P140 billion, according to the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), are readily available funds which Malacanang can tap for the purpose.  Malacanang, however, is at a lost for words in responding to such calls.  One Malacanang official, without saying that such funds exists, says  the fund may have been already used during the current year’s government operation.
    P140 billion is P140 billion.  With this amount, the government can step up its on-going relief and rehabilitation as a result of Ondoy, and can actually fund rescue or retrieval operation in the north as a result of Pepeng.
    All Malacanang has to do is ask the Department of Budget and Management to come up with an updated report of the said 2008 savings, so as to know how much can be used for purpose of responding to the disaster.
    Pres. Arroyo should act with dispatch on this issue.  An hour meeting with DBM officials will do to know whether these funds still exists.  And if not, she should start looking into it, immediately.  Or at least, right after dealing with the devastation brought about by Ondoy and Pepeng.
    What happened to these government savings is a matter of public interest and the people has the right to know where these monies went.  Hopefully, not into the pockets of those pretending who doesn’t know they exist.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

Adobo Lover

I strive to be perfect in spirit, unyielding in soul and humble in triumph...

links:

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/

http://lastwind.blogspot.com

http://www.youtube.com/ueke88

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It's Confirmed: ERAP for President, Binay for Vice President

Yesterday, I saw from the news that former President Estrada and Makati Mayor Binay are running for president and vice president respectively. They also had a senatorial line up ready for the big election festival.
Considering that president Erap has a legal battle to face in case he wins the election, the vice president elect will be a sure hit. Even considering all legal aspects with opinions coming from the greatest and most intelligent lawyers around, the FACT still remains that a legal battle is inevitable and while this is happening, the Filipino people will suffer more. Vested interest is in the air, it's all that there is.
I have nothing against the person of former president Estrada, however, the move to run as president, in my opinion, will only add mountains of legal issues for him to face. And again history will repeat itself. At the end of the day, the common people suffers more.

Mayor Binay on the other hand is a good administrator of a local government unit, however, I don't think it is enough to be considered as vice president. One factor is character.
Erap and Binay will be a force to reckon with since they have a following coming from a portion of the masses particularly within the greater Metropolitan Manila. With so many opposition parties fighting for the big Malacanang seat, this coming 2010 elections will surely be a festival of political figures and as well as clowns.

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Chiz Escudero Is Running As President?

May bagong umagang darating...

Have you seen this new commercial which started yesterday morning? It was showing Sen. Chiz with a crowd, waving and shaking his hands while the song "may bagong umagang darating" was playing on the background. Sen. Chiz Escudero celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday, Oct 11, 2009, the same day the commercial was aired. Coincidence or strategy?
Just this morning, Sen Chiz was interviewed at GMA Unang Hirit and at the radio program of Mike Enriquez right after. When asked if he will run as President, he gave no definite answer. He just postponed his declaration to a later date because there are better things to do like helping the victims of typhoon Pepeng in northern luzon. His statement was definitely politically motivated. First thing, who will spend millions worth of commercials and media coverage if he will not gain something from it?
Simply put, Chiz Escudero's camp would like to sustain the interest, the buzz and the excitement of waiting for his declaration. At the end of the day, it's just plain and simple politics. Although Chiz seems to be lesser evil among the presidentiables.

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Commentary: Lessons learned from Ondoy

Tacloban City (9 October) -- Watching the unraveling of the great flood in Metro Manila on September 26 caused by Ondoy and the coverage of typhoon Pepeng on September 3 brings realizations and lessons that must be heeded lest the same calamity will happen once again in the future.

In contrast with the chaos during the Metro Manila disaster, with the government leading, there was orderly and systematic preparation and evacuation of constituents who are prone to become victims of the onslaught of typhoon Peping.

First and foremost, the first lesson indeed, is to heed the warnings and alerts from PAG-ASA, Phivolcs, NDCC, local defense office, local government executives, the military or the police. They aim to save your life, give them your fullest cooperation.

Operationalize all the disaster coordination council from the barangays to the highest level of governance. Many times, there are indeed organized disaster coordination councils but they are not functional. Policies such as when there is typhoon signal number 1 in the area, the members of the local disaster coordination council should immediately go to the operations center, ready to mobilize. Drivers of dump trucks are notified to be on standby for possible deployment; rubber boats if there are any readied, evacuation centers are prepared and relief food prepositioned.

Very important is a vicinity map or the geo-hazard maps made by the Mines and Geosciences. As reports from the different areas arrive, red pins could be placed in the specific areas. Though this, the area of the calamity could immediately be analyzed.

If the disaster coordination council is IT equipped, a vicinity map should also be used for the same reason. This is Situation Mapping which allows one to locate activities on a map providing current situation like where rescue teams have been sent, where relief operations are being currently done.

Another important thing which could be done right there on the computer is the Organization Registry which lists Who is doing What and Where. This allows relief agencies to self organize the activities rendering fine coordination among them.

A must during calamities is the Missing Person Registry which helps to report and search missing persons; Disaster Victim Registry to be able to trace internally displaced people and their needs; Request/Aid management which tracks requests for aid and matches them against donors who have pledged aid.

Very crucial is the Shelter Inventory or Evacuation Centers Inventory to keep track of the location, distribution, capacity and breakdown of victims in shelter.

Inventory Management is also very important in order to effectively and efficiently manage rescue and relief aid so that items which require refill will be immediately known.

There should also be good Volunteer Management so that one will immediately know which volunteer groups are needed according to their skills.

A golden rule in times of disaster is to coordinate with the right government institution. An uncoordinated act will always end in a messy outcome. The NDCC has been tapped, then all actions being taken by both private and government entities should be reported to NDCC. This avoids duplications of tasks and prevent others who need help not being aided.

Going back to the first and foremost observation, no amount of advocacies or information dissemination the government will do, if the citizens do not take them to heart and really heed the warning, tragedies will still happen.

Thus, may Ondoy and Peping, open people's eyes to prepare family relief packs which they can immediately pick up at the assigned location anytime there is an emergency.

Moreover, heed the cry of the environment. Start taking care of the environment and it will take care of you in return. All these things done, don't forget to utter a prayer, "Into your Hands I commend my spirit O Lord." "Your will, not mine, be done." 

PIA Press Release
2009/10/09

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