Home 
The world condemns the massacre in Maguindanao attributed to the Ampatuans, who have controlled the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) like absolute rulers for almost a decade.
The latest body count in an Inquirer report is 64. Among the slain were journalists, lawyers, female members of the Mangudadatu family, and motorists who just happened to follow the convoy.
The Mangudadatu women, accompanied by media persons and two female lawyers, were headed for Shariff Aguak town to file the certificate of candidacy of Esmael Mangudadatu for governor of ARMM, a post currently held by Zaldy Ampatuan.
Esmael said his family had received grave threats from the Ampatuans for his bid for the ARMM governorship in next year?s election, so the Mangudadatus decided to send their women, thinking the Ampatuans wouldn?t dare harm them, as the Islamic faith prohibits violence against women.
The Mangudadatus thought wrong. At least one witness said all the women in the convoy, including Esmael?s wife, were raped before they were shot to death, some of them shot in the genitals.
This massacre is unprecedented and may be considered the most barbaric of killings in recent memory. We demand that government dispense with justice immediately, regardless of the Ampatuans? ties with Malacanang.
Filipinos the world over and even allies of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are disgusted at government?s kid glove treatment of the crime. A Malacañang official even tried to downplay the carnage as ?an incident between two families in Mindanao.?
With pressure from citizens, media and the international community, government has no choice but to arrest the alleged ?butcher of Maguindanao,? Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay town. Andal Jr. was groomed to succeed his father as governor of Maguindanao.
The Ampatuans are important allies of the Arroyo government. In 2004, the clan delivered significant votes for Ms. Arroyo?s presidential bid. In 2007, controversy erupted when Maguindanao posted a ?statistically impossible? 12-0 sweep of the senatorial race in favor of Arroyo?s bets.
For the Ampatuans? apparent involvement in the incident, the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD has expelled the Ampatuans from the party. The Department of Justice is filing multiple murder charges against Andal Jr., but groups are also pressing government to include other members of the Ampatuan family, including its patriarch, Andal Sr.
Amazingly, while the Ampatuans are clearly involved in the massacre, Ms Arroyo said she would not sever ties with them, which leaves many asking ? what secrets in the 2004 and the 2007 elections do the Ampatuans keep?
If we study the politics in that area in Mindanao, we can see the perfect exercise of political bossism by the Ampatuans, reinforced by the current dispensation. The Arroyo government continues to ignore the miserable state of the people of that area in Mindanao in the hands of absolute rulers who control the region?s political and economic activities with their private armies and, some say, even the police and the military.
I was told one warlord there has earned the moniker ?Chainsaw Governor? for using the chainsaw on anyone who defies his orders. Violence in this godforsaken region has been going on for quite some time, but the Arroyo government has turned a blind eye on it.
The barbaric acts have made the world see the problem in Muslim Mindanao, where time and again violence erupts as ?normally? as thunderstorms. But government should also see the other problems in education, social services, healthcare, livelihood and social justice. A lot of people there live in shanties while the Ampatuans own several mansions in Mindanao.
Malacañang continues to ignore the plight of the poor in Muslim Mindanao, focusing instead on the war against bandits and terrorists. It does nothing about the corruption committed by demigods who occupy key local government positions perhaps because these warlords can deliver unbelievable votes in every election.
So what should be done to correct the problems in the Muslim Mindanao? Plenty, but they require the very rare exercise of political will.
For one thing, we agree with the Commission on Elections that elections in that area should be done ahead of Election Day so that the military and the police could focus their efforts on that area alone in seeing to it that the election is clean, orderly and peaceful. But it needs to be legislated and Congress should act on it soonest.
Secondly the national government should disband and disarm all private armies in the area, then pour in more money for projects that would directly benefit the people and not go through the government agencies that are led by members of political families.
Education plays a very important factor in stopping violence in Muslim Mindanao. Many of the people there are illiterate, a fact that plays to the warlords? advantage. So it is incumbent upon the government to provide education to the people there, building more schools that are accessible by the people, and hiring enough competent teachers.
Restructure the local government so no family can monopolize it. Governance should become a collective effort that includes all the sectors in the community, so no sector would be marginalized. Then educate and encourage the people to engage in business so they would be busy attending to their enterprises, instead of building up their armories.
I think whoever gets elected president in 2010 will have his hands full trying to bring reforms and progress in the Muslim Mindanao. Let us hope the next administration will have the sincerity and the political will to address the problems of the people.
