Clan allied to Philippine president suspected of being behind massacre

Guardian UK ^ | 11/25/09 | Mark Tran

[FromLori]

A powerful political clan allied to the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is suspected of masterminding an election massacre that left 57 people dead, police said today.

Four local commanders, including one provincial police chief, have already been relieved of their duties and confined to camp while being investigated for what the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called a "heinous crime".

As the full extent of the carnage emerged, domestic and international pressure is growing on Arroyo to find and punish those responsible.

In her first comments on the killings the president, who has declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao and another southern province, promised justice for the victims and declared a national day of mourning.

"This is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation," she said in a statement. "The perpetrators will not escape justice. The law will hunt them until they are caught."

Suspicion has fallen on the Ampatuans, a powerful political dynasty in the southern province of Maguindanao. Police are investigating reports that Andal Ampatuan Jr, a town mayor, was present when dozens of police and pro-government militia stopped the election convoy that was attacked.

Human Rights Watch in New York urged the government to start a fully independent investigation led by the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation, given allegations of involvement by members of the security forces and local militias.

"Far too many people have been gunned down

[marron]

Something this bad is a declaration of war and needs to be dealt with in kind.

[ASA Vet]

PI Ping

[livius]

This (as well as the tactics and technique) are way beyond political rivalry. Personally, I would suspect that the press is trying to attribute a Muslim attack to a non-Muslim source.

The other possibility is that this local cacique hired the Muslims to carry this out. Remember that the way the Muslims were able to invade Spain so easily hundreds of centuries ago is that they had actually been hired by one Visigothic king to attack his rival Visigothic king.

In that case, one of the first people the North African Muslims killed when they arrived was the king who had hired them. Bummer.

But I’d suspect that, if it’s true that this party was behind the killings, they had hired the Muslims. This is a bad sign; it led to the fall of the Spanish kingdoms, and it will lead to the fall of las Islas Filipinas (Philippines).

[FromLori]

I would never have thought about that good point. Here too in the future the way things are going.

[marron]

Its Maguindanao province in Mindinao. Muslims. The Ampatuans are the local warlords apparently. I say that because in addition to holding all the local political offices, and in addition to having a private army, the police were in on the massacre. Its possible that the victims were muslim too, I haven’t figured that out yet.

Its hard to figure out because news reports leave out that detail.

[buwaya]

Both the Ampatuans and their rivals were Muslims.

Not all the victims were Muslims, though it looks like many were, and I suspect that some of the perpetrators also weren’t Muslim. Local pro-government home-guard militias in Mindanao were usually Christian.

This does not seem to have been religiously motivated.

[livius]

I know people from Mindinao and they haven’t been back to their property for years because of the Muslims.

This is a very strange situation, and you’re right, they don’t tell you much. I’d suspect the press is covering up for Muslims one way or another.

That is, the Muslims may have attacked because it was a target-rich environment. Or they may have attacked because they had been hired by one political rival to attack another.

[buwaya]

The political rivals were Muslim. Its a Muslim province (mostly).

[AlexW]

Yes, I have seen it on TV...Very nasty.