24 NOVEMBER 2009

CHR CHAIRPERSON ON MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE: “WHAT KIND OF ANIMALS ARE THESE KILLERS?”

On the afternoon of 23 November 2009 , the Commission on Human Rights began receiving reports from various sources that an entourage of supporters and family member of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Ishmael “Toto” Mangudadatu had been abducted and executed en masse by a group of almost a hundred armed men. The entourage was accompanied by a large group of journalists covering the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) of Vice Mayor Mangudadatu, who is running for governor in the Province of Maguindanao in the 2010 Elections.

The incumbent Vice Mayor had sent a contingent led by his 36-year-old wife Genalyn Tiamzon, his sisters, Eden, the mayor of Mangudadato town, and Farina, accompanied by female legal counsels Cynthia Oquendo and Connie Brizuela. Genalyn, together with the rest of the entourage had been sent to file the CoC in behalf of Mangudadatu at the provincial office of the Commission on Elections in Shariff Aguak town.

En route to the COMELEC office in Shariff Aguak, convoy headed by Genalyn was stopped by an estimated hundred armed men. The gruesome aftermath of the abduction was discovered in the village of Masalay in Datu Abdullah Sangki town, two kilometers away from where the convoy had been stopped. At least 21 persons were found dead, others apparently raped, and mutilated. At least 6 of the dead were beheaded, including the wife of Mangudadatu. His sisters were also executed. Of the 21 dead, 13 were women. It is feared that at least 13 of the murdered were journalists.

“This is an outrage,” CHR Chairperson Leila De Lima said, reacting to the initial stream of report to reach the CHR Central Office in Manila . “Imagine... it was not enough that they were unarmed, but they had to behead women?”

A visibly disturbed and upset De Lima continued, “What kind of animals are these killers?”

The early reports indicated that the contingent was deliberately composed of several women to off-set the possibility of violence. “The belief was that women, generally, are not subjected to violence. Hindi sila ginagalaw. But even the women were killed and beheaded!” De Lima lamented.

“The Philippine National Police and the Executive Department must be put to task, not only to respond to the killings, but to deliver expeditious justice,” De Lima continued. “There are several underpinning of power and influence in Maguindanao politics that must be overcome without any delay, and the governmental response should be decisive.”

News outlets reported that the son of Datu Andal Ampatuan, the incumbent governor of Maguindanao who resigned earlier this year, was part of the armed group that carried out the massacre. Reports say that there were witnesses who claimed that Mangudadatu's sister Eden , apparently sensing trouble, pulled out her knife and stabbed the younger Ampatuan. Also, in the final phone conversation between Mangudadatu and his wife Genalyn, the latter complained to her husband that she was slapped by “Ampatuan's men”.

De Lima remarked, “If there is no swift intervention, this could lead to an outbreak of even more violence and savagery. The Mangudadatus are also a powerful clan and this incident, if left unresolved, could very well develop into more bloodshed between the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus.”

Responding to evening reports that Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza's call for the disarming of private armies in Maguindanao, De Lima said, “The CHR supports the stand of Secretary Dureza on disarmament. It is precisely because national authorities continue to be neglectful of power-wielding local officials that we find vast segments of the countryside population cowering in fear of violence and in fear for their lives. The Ampatuans, and several other clans for that matter, did not amass its cache of arms and assemble massive private armies overnight. These can only be done while national authorities impliedly condone the proliferation of arms among the political elite in the distant regions of the country. This is unbelievable - even a member of the PNP was reported to be among the armed group that carried out this massacre. Those who are tasked to enforce the law are now bent to do the biddings of political clans.”

“The CHR Regional Office has been aware of a long-standing atmosphere in Maguindanao. They have been tracking gruesome killings, killings allegedly carried out by chainsaw or by burying people alive. But our field officials are afraid to conduct interventions,” De Lima said. “Rightfully so should they be afraid! We cannot blame them for fearing for their own lives because as a nation, we have failed to quell the amassing of private armies. The national government must step in now, as belated as it is, and put a stop to this violence.”

Further reports indicate that authorities fear at least 11 journalists were killed, making this incident ignominious for it is a single largest death toll of media practitioners. De Lima noted, “We have always maintained the importance of protecting the media. The significant role of journalists in human rights efforts is grounded in their ability to bring to public attention all human rights violations that would otherwise be veiled in secrecy, which is what perpetrators want. These rash of killings in Maguindanao prior to this massacre have been low-key items in the news, thus lending to the atmosphere of impunity where murderers move freely to carry out killings. To have this many journalists murdered is not just a grievous offense to the persons killed, but a defiant attack upon the freedom, democracy and human rights we all enjoy.

“I call on the media as well to be on guard but to continue to unearth the human rights crisis brewing in Maguindanao. Only when we are able to bring the true state of violence in Maguindanao, the true character of the power-wielding clans, to national attention, can we unremorsefully reprimand our national government for neglecting their duties to maintain peace in Maguindanao.”

On reports that ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan were in a meeting with Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio on the day of the massacre, De Lima said, “We are aware that the Ampatuans are politically allied with the administration. We are also aware that they delivered landslide votes in previous elections. Despite these political alliances, we should not see even a mere appearance of partiality towards the Ampatuans, if they are indeed the ones responsible for the massacre, as reports suggest. We should not see even an ounce of leeway given to these killers. If there is even a mere suggestion that authorities are compromising the fair application of the law, I call on all Filipinos to strike back hard and clamor for the full force of the law upon these killers.”