MANGUDADATU MASSACRE - ANDAL AMPATUAN ALREADY JUDGED GUILTY

Fifty seven people were killed in cold blood in a remote corner of the Philippines, and there is evidence implicating a local political dynasty.
The victims were part of a convoy heading to the town of Sharif Aguak to file candidacy papers for Ismail (Toto) Mangudadatu to run for governor of Maguindanao Province against front-runner and heir-designate Andal Ampatuan Jr, one of the sons of local orang kaya Andal Ampatuan Sr.

[Ismail Mangudadatu is mayor of Buluan in Maguindanao, Andal Ampatuan Jr is mayor of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao. Maguindanao is next to the province of Sultan Kudarat in west-central Mindanao, in the Southern Philippines. I first mentioned the massacre yesterday, in this post: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/11/death-in-mindanao-convenient-muslim.html DEATH IN MINDANAO - CONVENIENT MUSLIM CADAVERS]


One of the victims, Genalyn Tiamzon Mangudadatu (wife of Ismail Mangudadatu) reportedly used her cell-phone to call her husband during the attack, telling him that Andal Ampatuan Jr. directed the assault against the convoy, and physically abused her.
There are also reported to be four witnesses currently under the protection of Ismail Mangudadatu who corroborate this version of events.


WOMEN, LAWYERS, AND REPORTERS

The caravan containing mrs. Mangudadatu, her sisters, numerous relatives, plus lawyers and nearly twenty reporters was intercepted by "about one hundred armed men" on the highway near barangay Salman. The prisoners were taken to a field and shot at close range with military issue assault rifles. The murderers buried several of the bodies in three pre-dug pits, piling them in and pushing dirt over them. The perpetrators fled when a column of soldiers came near, leaving several bodies still scattered over the area, near abandoned vehicles.
The backhoe used to excavate the pits and push the dirt belonged to the provincial government (controlled by the Ampatuan clan).
According to witnesses, the large group of armed men had been established near barangay Salman for several days, without the local military (the 61st brigade of the army, headed by colonel Medardo Jeslani) intervening - it was considered a local political thing.


UTANG NA LOOB - MUTUALLY PROFITABLE BACKSCRATCHING

It should be noted that the Ampatuans' power was in large part established by a close relationship with the military during the Marcos years, when Andal Ampatuan Sr sided with the military against the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front). Since then, the military and the Ampatuans have always been on the same page, notably so during the nineties when the Estrada government waged its war of extermination against the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front). The military has for over two decades supplied Andal Ampatuan with weapons, and lent him and his clan their support in numerous political arenas.

It should also be noted that the Philippine military and the Philippine National Police (into which the Philippine Constabulary was absorbed nearly two decades ago) are not precisely on the same page in Mindanao - both were rivals in interesting activities of a commercial nature there for several years.

The alleged ringleader of the attack on mrs. Mangudadatu and her convoy, Andal Ampatuan Jr, was in the running to succeed his father as governor of Maguindanao, where the Ampatuans and Mangudadatus combined forces in 2001 to unseat Zakaria Candao as governor.
In 2003, there were accusations that the Ampatuans had arranged the murder of Zakaria Candao's older brother Abdulkadir Candao. Numerous other deaths over the years have been ascribed, rightly or wrongly, to the Ampatuans, who are strong allies of Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The split between the Ampatuan dynasty and Mangudadatu is comparatively recent.


SLAUGHTERED ON A HILLSIDE IN SANIAG

The Mangudadatu women were sent in the convoy because it is traditional that the women, children, and elderly of the rival group will not be harmed. It was known that there were militia members along the road, but it was assumed that Maguindanaon custom would prevail.
It was almost certainly known beforehand that Ismail Mangudadatu was not in any of the vehicles.
It was also well-known that journalists ('observers') were part of the group.

The victims were shot multiple times at close range as well as hacked with machetes, and several of the bodies were mutilated, particularly the wife and sisters of Ismail Mangudadatu.

There are unconfirmed reports of sexual assaults and beheadings.


EVIDENCE?

In the Philippines, evidence is not always evidence, sometimes cold hard facts are very carefully manufactured.
Two decades with the lawyer and his beauty-queen wife made that clear.

If you are going to commit an atrocity, it is probably a darn good idea to kill the journalists.
That way other reporters will be very hesitant about investigating in person - but they will horrified, outraged, and screaming for answers.

How remarkable that there were phone calls, witnesses, foreknowledge of route and dangers, and a backhoe directly linked to the governor.

With all fingers unanimously pointing towards the Ampatuan clan, and the government and press now baying for their blood, it seems almost inevitable that those important allies of Ms. Arroyo will be taken down a peg, and both the Ampatuan clan and the Mangudadatu clan subsequently diminished by fierce conflict. Even if they resist the temptation to exterminate each other, as may have been what was intended by the outrage and brutality of the act, this will lessen their power in Maguindanao.


So the question is, who benefits?


Such a wholesale massacre could not possibly be considered useful by the Ampatuans, as it would be bound to attract entirely unwanted attention and political pressure. Even if the other members of the clan who hold office were not involved, this would stain them and their future.
This was probably the most damaging thing to their position that could have happened.

Killing the women is sure to appall other clans in Maguindanao, and changes the rules in a way that will upset the established chaos for years to come. Many if not most other powerful families will unite against the perceived criminals - such a breach is an assault on all of them. Or it may be perceived and played as such.

Lastly, this is a direct hit on President Arroyo, who must either mount a slash-and-burn campaign against the very people who ensured her election victory (one hundred percent in some constituencies, including more votes than residents), OR be forever labeled too weak and too beholden to her cronies to be trusted.

If utang na loob (a debt of obligation between two parties) can be said to dominate Philippine political interactions, the obverse thereof in Mindanao is an obligation to exact vengeance.
There are far too many interested parties in the Maguindanao region for anybody to really be beyond suspicion, and given the long-standing involvement of lumber and mining interests, as well as big agricultural producers, plus the inevitable enemies created by Andal Ampatuan Sr's rise to power over the years, there is more than enough distrust to stain everybody.

The one person who actually may have nothing to do with it is the president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This affair is far too damaging, far too clumsily and coarsely executed, and far too messy, for so savvy a political actor to be responsible.
But I shall not say so for certain, because after nearly thirty years of observing the place, the Philippines still has the capacity to leave me absolutely slack-jawed with surprise.