February 2010

On 23 November 2009, 57 women and men were massacred in Maguindanao, Mindanao in the Philippines. Concepcion ‘Connie’ Brizuela of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and a human rights lawyer was among the 22 women who were massacred. Two of the women victims were pregnant. At least five women were sexually molested before being murdered. The perpetrators were members of a legalized private army of the local Ampatuan family.

The Massacre

The victims were part of a convoy of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadato’ relatives going to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to file the candidacy certificate of Esmael Mangudadato for the post of governor. This was a challenge to the decade long hold on the post by the Ampatuan family. Witnesses said the convoy was blocked by around 100 armed men led by Maguindanao Shariff Aguak Chief Police Inspector Zukarno Adil Dicay and Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr, mayor of one of the towns in Maguindanao and one of the members of the Ampatuan clan, a major ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the past 2004 and 2007 elections. The convoy was accompanied by 30 journalists. The convoy was forced off the main road by the armed men whop drove the victims some 2.5 km along a dirt road to a secluded area in the hamlet of Malating, in Salman village, Ampatuan. According to a witness, the victims were lined up and shot.

Some tried to escape as the shooting started and were gunned down by members of the Civilian Volunteer Organisation, a local militia. Those massacred were buried in three pits dug by a backhoe, but military forces arrived before all the bodies could be buried. Those responsible for the massacre fled, leaving behind vehicles, the backhoe and 22 unburied bodies.

The Perpetrators – The Local Warlord’s Forces

The Ampatuans, who occupied many local positions in the province of Maguindanao have made use of their power to maintain militias which the government used in its counter-insurgency programs for many years. They have been able to build up a private arsenal including mortars, rocket launchers and top-of-the-range assault rifles. Several of the firearms in the arsenal are reported to bear the markings of the police and military. Their private army includes dozens of police officers.

The International Crisis Group has stated that the massacre was not, as many media reports have described it, the result of a longstanding feud between two powerful clans. They believe the massacre was the result of the central Government deliberately nurturing a local warlord, Andal Ampatuan Sr, who was allowed to indulge his greed and ambition in exchange for political loyalty. He began to grow as an authoritarian strongman in the late 1990s, but his power grew exponentially under the Arroyo government.

The Ampatuans have been in Maguindanao for centuries and trace their lineage to a Muslim preacher, Shariff Aguak, who first brought Islam to the area and after whom the provincial capital is named.

Many members of the clan are upstanding citizens, who are as horrified by the murders as everyone else; the core of the problem rests with Andal ASmpatuan Sr, now under arrest, and his family.

He used his position as governor to extend the family influence, one of the most important ways he did this was to create new townships. The Ampatuan’s administrative carve up of Maguindanao into more and more municipalities enabled more and more family members to gain political office. It also ensured a steady stream of funding from the central government through a mechanism known as Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA). In 1995, the province had 18 municipalities. By 2009 it had 36, most of them led by Andal Sr’s sons, nephews, in-laws and other members of his extended family. No one audited their use of the IRAs and they were able to build huge, pastel-coloured mansions for themselves in the country’s third-poorest province.

Under Marcos the Ampatuans were able to build up a private army of over 2,000 armed men. They used their own wealth to purchase assault rifles more advanced than those used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Law allowing Local Militias

The 2006 Executive Order 546 legalised paramilitary forces to “multiply” the counter-insurgency forces of the military and police. Although Executive Order 546 places the supervision and control of these “civilian volunteer organizations” (CVOs) under the police, local government officials through Peace and Order Councils have a huge say especially since they are tasked to source the funds needed to sustain the CVOs.

What you can do

Write polite and respectful letters to (a letter to the Philippines requires a $1.45 stamp from Australia):

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

President of the Republic

Malacañang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila PHILIPPINES

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

Text: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839

8462

E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

Salutation : Your Excellency

Atty. Agnes Devanadera

Secretary, Department of Justice

DOJ Building

Padre Faura St., 1004 Manila

PHILIPPINES

Fax: (+632) 521-1614

Email: soj@doj.gov.ph

Salutation : Dear Secretary

Mr Emilio Gonzalez

Deputy Ombudsman

Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices

3rd Floor, Ombudsman Bldg.

Agham Road, Diliman

1104 Quezon City

PHILIPPINES

Fax: +632 926 8747

Salutation: Dear Mr Gonzalez

His Excellency Ernesto H. De Leon

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines to the Commonwealth of Australia

Embassy of the Philippines

PO Box 3297

Manuka ACT 2603

E-mail: cbrpe@philembassy.org.au

Salutation: Your Excellency

Points to make in your emails or letters:

• Express deep concern at the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, Mindanao on 23 November 2009.
• Seek assurances that the Government will do all it can to ensure that those responsible for planning, organizing and carrying out the massacre are brought to justice.
• Ask that the Government end all private and local funding of police and military auxiliaries and bans civilian militias. The Government should revoke Executive Order 546.

Also write to:

The Hon Stephen Smith MP

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Parliament House

Canberra, ACT, 2600

Salutation: Dear Minister

• Urge him to raise the above points with the Government of the Philippines.