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Massacre in Maguindanao

by Fr Eliseo Mercado, OMI

November 23rd is now etched in the history of the province as the day of shameless ignominy. On that day, a convoy of the women folks of the Mangudadatu clan accompanied by media people and their women lawyers on their way to the Capitol of the Province in Sharif Aguak municipality was stopped by PNP forces with hundreds of armed civilian volunteer organizations (under the command of the PNP) along the national highway in Ampatuan municipality. The convoy was directed to take the farm road leading to a deep hole meant to be the mass grave of the entire members of the convoy and also the other vehicles that happened to follow the convoy.I am beginning to piece the story of the tragic massacre. It all began about three weeks ago with a COMELEC Resolution directing the transfer of the COMELEC Satellite Office from Cotabato City to the Provincial Capitol in Maguindanao. Then another resolution came directing all candidates in the province to file their certificates of candidacy at the provincial `capitol'. These resolutions looked innocent when read and seen outside the concrete political context in the province.Anyone in the place knows that the said resolutions follow the logic of the local politics and the control over the COMELEC on the ground. COMELEC cannot feign ignorance of these realities nor washes its hands in the ensuing massacre in Maguindanao. The concrete experiences of 2004 and 2007 elections and the participation of COMELEC in the province are too gross to ignore.There is a reason and definitely politics in the physical shifting `capitol' sites in the province. There is a need to locate the `capitol' in a place to ensure total control. For this reason, Maguindanao can qualify to put the capitol building on wheels. It began in Cotabato City; then Datu Udtog moved it to Pagalungan; Post Datu Udtog, it was moved back to Cotabato City; then it was moved to Maganoy (Sharif Aguak); Zacaria Candao moved it back to Cotabato City; then he moved it to a new site in Sultan Kudarat. The Ampatuan moved the `capitol' back to Maganoy where it now stands.The total control of the capitol ensures absolute control over all government machineries in the capitol site, including the COMELEC, PNP and AFP. Months ago, the buzz in the province and in Cotabato City has been the looming political contest between the Ampatuan clan, the present unquestioned ruler of the Province and the ARMM, and the Mangudadatu clan. Everybody in town is actually surprised by this challenge coming from the four Mangudadatu young, daring and dazzling brothers (two mayors, one vice mayor and one assemblyman of the Regional Assembly of the ARMM). The leader of the clan and the main challenger is the present Vice Mayor of Buluan, Datu Ismael `Toto' Mangudadatu. The challenge came as a big surprise, because the Ampatuan clan is `intimately' connected to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Lakas – Kampi – CMD Party both in 2004 and 2007 national elections. The convergence of the political and electoral agenda of Pres. Arroyo and the Ampatuans is well known both in the national and local levels.The challenge emerged when talks that the `senior' Ampatuan is no longer qualified to run as Governor of the province. The name of the `junior' Ampatuan has begun to surface as the clan bet for what they thought would be uncontested governorship in the province come May 2010. This development sparked talks and counter-talks of contesting the governorship thus shifting political alliances, especially with the waning of the star of Malacañang and her official candidates. The relations between President Arroyo and the Ampatuans hinged on a symbiosis of political and electoral interests and as demonstrated by the `outstanding' delivery capacity of the clan in all electoral exercises held in the province of Maguindanao. When we speak of captive electorate, I refer to `managed' and `owned' elections. Political parties and candidates also refer to the entire ARMM as `captive' electorate. This is not a simple perception but the `actual ballot' counts' attest to this `winner take all' elections. This fact is known also to the COMELEC. No doubt, if electoral anomalies happen, the people who manage and secure the elections are equally controlled. In most instances, the teachers and officials of the COMELEC, including the PNP have little or no choices at all. Their lives and their families, as well, are in jeopardy.

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