Philippine govt shares blame for massacre: Int'l group
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government bears some blame for a political massacre of 57 people last month owing to its policy of cultivating warlords in the strife-torn south, a conflict prevention group said Monday.
The gruesome killings on Mindanao island were not just the product of a feud between warring political clans, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a report.
It was also due "to Manila's deliberate nurturing of a ruthless warlord in exchange for votes", it said.
"To call it a feud is to diminish the Arroyo administration's role in allowing a local despot to indulge his greed and ambition, including through building up a private army in the name of fighting insurgents," said Sidney Jones, the group's senior adviser in Asia.
President Gloria Arroyo's administration has blamed the powerful Ampatuan clan for the massacre, which targeted female relatives of a rival family and about 30 journalists travelling in a convoy in Maguindanao province.
Members of the Ampatuan clan were once close allies of Arroyo, but were kicked out of the ruling coalition after the massacre.
Arroyo had supported the clan's rise to power, and used its private army in her anti-insurgency campaign against Muslim separatists on Mindanao.
In exchange, the Ampatuans allegedly ensured that Arroyo and her candidates swept the provincial voting in 2004 national elections.
The ICG said that political patronage by Manila, "most notably Arroyo", had allowed the Ampatuans "to amass great wealth and unchecked power, including the possession of a private arsenal with mortars, rocket launchers and state-of-the-art assault rifles".
Police say the clan patriarch's son Andal Ampatuan Jr. personally led the massacre, which they say was aimed at stopping a political rival from running against him for the post of Maguindanao governor in elections next May.
Ampatuan Jr. was arrested days after the killings and charged with multiple counts of murder.
His father and other clan members have been charged with rebellion, after they were rounded up when Arroyo placed their provincial stronghold under nine days of martial law.
The ICG said Arroyo must now ensure that those behind the massacre are quickly convicted and that her government must disarm private armies.
"One of the weakest aspects of the Philippine justice system is slowness," it noted.
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Die Hard
ICG is absolutely right but unfortunately ang ibang pinoys ay bulag pa rin sa katotohanan. Kung ang ICG ay nakikita ang pagkakamali na ito at hanggang ngayon ay wala pang usapan tungkol sa liabilities ng gobyerno sa pangyayaring ito. Lumilihis na ang usapin na kung sino ba dapat ang managot sa karumal dumal na krimen na ito at para hindi na maulit pa? Obviously, si pandak ang nagalaga ng mga asong ulol na ito at ng mangagat at nanlapa ng sangkatutak na biktima ay kinulong lang ni pandak ang tuta. Kung ang alagang mga aso ay nakapatay ang amo ay dapat din parusahan. Dapat bang mag complain ang mga biktima sa International War Crimes Tribunal para malitis itong si pandak?
Thank you ICG
The goverment bred those wild animals and not just the ampatuan's, all the other powerful clans as well, they never feared the President because they are their dogs.
Unless something is done real fast the next election will see a lot more death.
Go ICG!
International organizations need to put more pressure to the Philippine government and the Philippine media to expose and to solve the private army problem in the Philippines.
It's not only in Maguindanao! It's not only the Ampatuans!
Until the government has proven that private armies are no longer existent, the Philippines should not be able to get ammunitions from other countries. The first media company that exposes existence of private armies should be given a prestgious award for its contribution to peace.