The Philippine Online Chronicles

I see it in Twitter, Plurk, Facebook and blogs.  The outrage is all over the internet. No to Maguindanao Massacre.

Pat Dayrit, a Twitter follower gasps: Oh my god. The politics of this country is appalling.

A Facebook Friend posts at her wall: Mangudadatu told reporters, referring to Ampatuan Jr. and his gunmen. "My wife's private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it," he added. "They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her."

I condemn this brutality.   I feel so much for the families who lost their loved ones in the Maguindanao massacre. I weep as I see the mutilated bodies in photos .  How do they even begin to comprehend the immensity of their loss?  Such unfamiliar territory . There are no words to express my utter disbelief that this could happen in a democracy.

( edit - I changed the title 5 hours after I posted this commentary. Mindanaon in Twitter insists that we call it Ampatuan massacre instead of Maguindanao massacre. hashtags now are reffered to as #ampatuanmassacre)

What makes me even more angry is that nothing was done by our current administration even after  the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) wrote  a series of stories in 2008 that focused on the province. “Amid the fighting, the clan rules in Maguindanao” looked at the influential Ampatuan clan and its close ties to Malacanang: “(Analysts) 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).”

Two questions often pop up in social media.

1. Why hasn’t the President arrested them yet?
2. What do the presidential candidate think of the massacre?

To answer the first question, no arrests have been made despite  the declaration of a  state of emergency and a National Day of Mourning tomorrow, November 26. Shouldn’t she consider the cancellation of the Executive Order 546 so these “legal private armies” do not abuse their powers to “fight insurgents”?  Oh yes, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD formally expels Ampatuans from the party as I write this. President Arroyo can do so much more besides extending condolences and prayers  to the grieving families.

the Philippine govt can only declare mourning day... what about arrests timetable??, exclaims noteither in a twitter.

Justice is what we seek.

Now to answer the second question.

I took the opportunity to get the views of  Nick Perlas , a presidentiable whom I spotted at the second wave of “Her Time is Up with Nicanor Perlas” Election Forum at the UP College of Law.

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Nick Perlas does not mince words on the Arroyo administration and her relationship to  the Amputuans. “This masscare is uncalled for and a symptom of a problem that our country has reached.

This cozy relationship between with central government and  local warlords have gone on unabated for a long time. This is totally unacceptable. Malacanang should go after those killers. There is no reason to kill innocent people.

His  platform on peace and development is related to the upliftment of poverty.  There is a need to  address social justice issues connected to land, address to the better judicial systems so these warring clans  don’t have to resort to Rido (tribal clan revenge) which has been going on for a long time.

He adds that “It is a a real test of the Arroyo administration. It is a  known fact that Ampatuan is his right hand man  in southern Mindanao. It is a test of credibility.  If she fails, all things associated  with her will go under the ground because it is clear that she has no political will to deal with this issue.

Amptuan is a known terrorist . I want  to use the word terrorist. He terrorizes people because he has control of military. In  fact when there are conflicts, military act on his behalf in addition to his private army. “

What do other presidential candidates have to say? Do their platforms address the peace and development of Mindanao?

It is my hope that our government has the political will to arrest and punish the perpetuators of this massacre. This should not happen again. The people responsible for the massacre must be held accountable. The Arroyo administration must not protect nor tolerate this even if they are allies. All presidential candidates should make it their platform to implement the justice system in these areas of Mindanao so rido is not resorted to anymore.

Adrian Ayalin of ABS CBN interviewed me earlier this afternoon on reactions of bloggers and users of social media and what we can do to condemn this massacre. The mere fact that we are making noise and expressing outrage in facebook, twitter, plurk is the first step.  Blogwatch.ph contributor, Angel Abella from Davao City wrote an entry "On the Maguindanao  Massacre" which is receiving a number of comments expressing outrage  and disgust from citizens based in Mindanao. We cannot be complacent anymore until justice has been served.

Condemn Election-related Violence.

How have you expressed your outrage to the Maguindanao Massacre?

Photo by Brian Ong. Video by Author.  Some Rights Reserved