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gloria macapagal arroyo mugshot from mugshots.com
the winning formula for gilbert teodoro
we think teodoro suffering in the polls is the result of arroyo’s kiss of death on teodoro. the kiss stuck on teodoro and so did his ratings in the polls. with just a few days to go till election, it is all lost for teodoro.
the latest SWS poll on the performance rating of gloria macapagal arroyo is not helping teodoro at all. arroyo reached a new all time low in performance rating.
with arroyo on his side as his supporter, who needs to have opponents? read more about it here: gloria macapagal arroyo is gilbert teodoro’s deadliest opponent
reason why gilbert teodoro will lose this election
we think gilbert teodoro, the standard bearer of the admin and ruling party is set to lose this election. his campaign was doomed from the very beginning when he decided to to bolt NPC and join gloria macapagal arroyo’s political party. his campaign never really took off encountering problems from the start.
read here: why gilbert teodoro will lose the election
joey salceda, the one who called arroyo as “luckiest bitch” says 9 years of eco growth did not reduce number of poor
we have always liked joey salceda. we think he is one of the smartest eco advisers of arroyo. he and neri engineered the good GDP showing of the arroyo administration. aside from his work, we like him for having the balls to refer to arroyo in this manner “She may be a bitch, but she’s the luckiest bitch around” (read below)
he is back with another statement. it is not as fabulous as that one but it speaks of the true state of the country’s economy – we had GDP growth that made the rich richer while the poor remained poor if not poorer.
Economic growth in 9 years did not touch poor
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:08:00 03/07/2010MANILA, Philippines — An economic adviser of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lamented that the rich got richer while the ranks of the poor swelled even further amid heady economic growth in the last nine years.
“My biggest frustration as a presidential adviser is that 34 quarters of uninterrupted expansion in the past nine years did little to reduce poverty and the number of poor people,’’ said Albay Governor Joey Salceda in an interview.
While the Arroyo administration continued to crank out glowing economic growth data, Salceda said “these rosy figures cannot hide the fact that there are more poor people now than when the President started her term.’’
He cited data from the National Statistical Coordination Board, which showed that the number of poor Filipinos – five-member families living on barely over P1,200 a month — hit 27.6 million in 2006 from 25.472 million in 2001. Hunger incidence nearly doubled from 11.4 percent in 2000 to 20.3 percent in 2009.
“That is a lot of poor people. Given our average economic growth in the last four decades, it would take 37 years for this poor to get out of poverty,’’ said Salceda.
The government’s efforts to provide direct subsidies to the poor through power and fuel rebates, cheaper rice, medicine and healthcare benefits, Salceda said, were negated by what he termed as “structural constraints’’ to a more equitable distribution of income.
The Arroyo administration has boasted of having the highest average growth rate of 4.4 percent in gross domestic product of all presidents since 1966 but Salceda pointed out that the windfall earnings were enjoyed entirely by the country’s richest corporations and families.
Salceda said that profits of the country’s top 1,000 corporations jumped by 21 percent per year while the return on their equity or investments increased by 15 percent per year since the President took power.
“Their total earnings amounted to P3.1 trillion of which P2.1 trillion were pocketed as dividends or earnings of the stockholders and only P1 trillion were re-invested,’’ said Salceda.
Salceda said that he and the rest of the President’s economic management team “honestly believed’’ that economic growth would have been enough to lift the well-being of the destitute if not for the structural constraints that concentrated money in the rich and prevented benefits from trickling down to the poor. Not only did the population growth of 3.6 percent per year added more to the headcount of poor people, Salceda said that historical structural factors persisted and were tougher to get undone despite deregulation, liberalization and privatization. “The oligarchies were just too sturdy as the state was weak due to the “Hello Garci’’ case. The business sector really exploited it,’’ said Salceda who refused to elaborate.
(Salceda was referring to the 2005 political scandal when tapes of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s conversations with a Commission on Elections official about her one-million vote margin in the 2004 polls surfaced. Arroyo apologized to the public for her lapse of judgment in order to defuse the worst political scandal to hit her presidency. But she insisted she called up the official just to follow up on the status of her votes and not to ask him to cheat.)
With a new administration coming in, Salceda expressed hope that the incoming President would have a broader base of popular support to help him carry out pro-poor programs that were inclusive of the rural sector (74 percent of poor Filipinos are from the rural sector)
After ‘evil’ tag comes ‘she’s the luckiest bitch’
By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:27:00 02/21/2008MANILA, Philippines – Whatever she is, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is one lucky President, according to her economic adviser.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said that despite the slew of criticisms leveled at Ms Arroyo, the numbers proved that her administration was working hard to improve the economy to uplift the lives of more Filipinos.
“She may be a bitch, but she’s the luckiest b1tch around,” Salceda said at a socioeconomic forum held Wednesday at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Rockwell, Makati City.
His remark elicited laughter from the audience, but he subsequently apologized for it, saying it could have been taken seriously by some people in the audience that included members of the media.
zaldy ampatuan calls on a “friend”, gloria macapagal arroyo. arroyo is his alibi and malacanang confirms the alibi – maguindanao massacre update
zaldy ampatuan
the efforts at finding justice for the maguindanao massacre victims is to say the least taking a very bizarre twist and they are very disturbing – zaldy ampatuan, one of the main suspects in the massacre is making president arroyo his alibi, saying he was with arroyo in malacanang during the day of the massacre.
Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), had claimed that he and Representatives Yusop Jikiri and Munir Abison and other political leaders of Sulu were in Malacañang on Nov. 23 to discuss with Ms Arroyo how to resolve the electoral conflicts in the province.
malacanang does not deny the meeting took place. in fact malacanang confirmed the meeting took place, it was just that arroyo attended the meeting briefly.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirmed this in a radio interview but said that Ms Arroyo attended the meeting only briefly. He also said that she had since severed her ties with the Ampatuans.
remonde based on his statement has actually confirmed the alibi of ampatuan as true. remonde said the meeting did take place, it was just that arroyo was in the meeting briefly. that to me confirms ampatuan’s alibi and that can mean the case of the government against zaldy ampatuan may mean a dismissal of the charges.
we have not read the affidavit that ampatuan executed and thus we do not know exactly what he said there. we have also not read the charge sheet the government has lodged against this ampatuan.
just based on this news article, it seems malacanang is attacking the issue at a very wrong angle and at an angle that gives room for ampatuan to be freed.
ampatuan is raising two issues in his affidavit : (a) he was not at the place of the massacre when it occured, he was at malacanang and (b) arroyo can attest to his innocence.
As for Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim that Ms Arroyo could attest to his innocence, Bello said: “That’s his claim. It’s up to the President to either affirm or validate it, contradict or repudiate it.”
gloria macapagal arroyo and "friend" zaldy ampatuan at her left
based on their statement here, malacanang placed a lot of effort at disassociating arroyo from ampatuan. they are making a big deal on their claim that ties have been severed with the ampatuans.
they have not done that satisfactorily, as even cabinet secretary bello said it will be up to arroyo to confirm or deny that ties have been severed with the ampatuans.
i do not understand malacanang’s obsession on that point. ties or no ties, the most important part is to get a conviction of the ampatuan. what is more important is to establish the whereabouts of ampatuan if the government’s case on the ampatuans is centered on an allegation that he is at the scene of the crime or that meetings among the accused occurred on that day. it really does not matter from a conviction standpoint whether ties have been severed or not. that will not matter in court.
it looks like malacanang seem to think it matters a lot perhaps on the point of view public opinion or image building for the president. malacanang seem to be still smarting from the big time screw up of lorelei fajardo, ex-presidential spokesperson who said that arroyo continue to be “friends” with the ampatuans even after the massacre. (read here, click: lorelei fajardo, presidential spokesman quits or fired? or this one: Memo To: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – fire Lorelei Fajardo, the Maguindanao Massacre aftermath)
malacanang seem to have forgotten the most important point and this point is what may set ampatuan free – where was ampatuan during the day of the massacre?
the government indictment seem to say he was at the scene of the crime. ampatuan claims he was not there but he was with arroyo in malacanang meeting with her. remonde’s statement seemed to have confirmed the alibi made by ampatuan.
i don’t get it – why would the lawyers of the government include in their charge sheet an allegation that ampatuan was at the scene of the crime when it appears he was not there? an alibi that says the accused is with the president of the country in a meeting in malacanang seems pretty strong to me.
it does not seem likely that ampatuan will use an alibi, being with the president, if he it is not true and if it cannot be proven. it is an alibi that can easily be proven false if it really did not occur. this is the president of the country, the courts will of course believe the president.
the paper trail on the meeting occurring must be long and solid. there will be airline tickets, hotel bills, the malacanang guest list and of course photos of the meeting.
there is so much irony here.
- we have the potential of this ampatuan being saved by the president of the country, the one person who is supposed to want ampatuan in jail, if the alibi is proven true
- if the alibi is proven true, ampatuan, the alleged mass murderer will be proven to be telling the truth while the president of the country or at least malacanang will be proven as telling a lie
- if the alibi is proven true, it will mean the statement of the president of the country will enable ampatuan to walk free
- the government prosecutors and investigators will be showing in a grand scale their incompetence in this case – for including a false allegation in their charge sheet
- if arroyo’s statement proves the alibi is true, then the friendship between arroyo and ampatuan will be proven in court as truth
- in that case, fajardo should have not been fired. why fire a person for telling the truth?
‘Up to court to call Arroyo on alibi of Ampatuans’
By Jocelyn Uy, Norman Bordadora, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:16:00 12/31/2009MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Wednesday shrugged off the Ampatuan family’s denial of involvement in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.
“These are matters subject to rules of evidence and testimony, so it’s difficult for us to comment. It’s up to the courts to determine the truthfulness of the claims of the Ampatuans,” Gary Olivar, one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokespersons, told the Inquirer by phone.
Zaldy Ampatuan, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM), had claimed that he and Representatives Yusop Jikiri and Munir Abison and other political leaders of Sulu were in Malacañang on Nov. 23 to discuss with Ms Arroyo how to resolve the electoral conflicts in the province.Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirmed this in a radio interview but said that Ms Arroyo attended the meeting only briefly. He also said that she had since severed her ties with the Ampatuans.
Alibi
Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III, also a member of the ruling party and a former justice secretary, said the ARMM governor was laying down an alibi by claiming that he was at the Palace at the time of the massacre.
As for Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim that Ms Arroyo could attest to his innocence, Bello said: “That’s his claim. It’s up to the President to either affirm or validate it, contradict or repudiate it.”
Bello also said that it was up to the courts to decide whether or not to summon Ms Arroyo in order to determine the veracity of Zaldy Ampatuan’s claim.
“Whether you’re an ally or not, it has no significance to the case. If you’re found guilty, you should suffer the consequences of your misbehavior,” Bello said in reaction to observations that the ARMM governor’s claim had revived reports of the Ampatuans’ close ties to the President.
The Ampatuans were long-time political allies of the President.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there at the meeting. There was no way of validating the claim of Ampatuan. My assumption is he’s laying the ground for his defense. That’s part of his defense, which is an alibi,” said Bello by phone, adding:
“If it’s true, he has a right to say it. If it’s not true, that will later be established.”
lorelei fajardo, presidential spokesman quits or fired?
WAWAM! after hours' post on lorelei fajardo
we have written about lorelei fajardo, one of our favorite spokespersons of president arroyo in this blog last december 1 (read here: Memo To: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – fire Lorelei Fajardo, the Maguindanao Massacre aftermath).
we just read a news article saying she has quit being the presidential spokesman of president arroyo. (read article here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/18/09/fajardo-quits-deputy-presidential-spokesman)
we do not know if arroyo or anyone in malacanang reads this blog, but we think getting fajardo fired, err to accept her resignation, according to this news article a “career choice” is the right thing to do.
it is this statement of hers which is the basis of our recommendation to president arroyo that t fajardo be fired from her job:
“I don’t think the President’s friendship with the Ampatuans will be severed,” Lorelei Fajardo, her deputy spokesperson, told reporters Thursday in Filipino. “Just because they’re in this situation doesn’t mean we will turn our backs on them.”
fajardo made that statement november 26, we wrote the piece on december 1, fajardo got fired, err she made the career move decenber 17. wow, that took a long time from the time she made the unfortunate declaration of how arroyo views loyalty to friends. 
this statement of fajardo has stuck in the mids of media people. i have read quite a number of articles written on the maguindanao massacre where many foreign media uses that statement as lead in to the kind of treatment the ampatuans are getting within the philippine judicial system. it really is a very unfortunate statement.
this firing err resignation of fajardo as presidential spokesman of arroyo has been carried by the major newspapers as well and it is quite interesting that each article included the fajardo’s statement on arroyo’s special friendship with the ampatuans. it looks like that statement of fajardo has made a lasting impression on the media outlets.
for myself i will be using that statement as a top example on “what not to do when you are presidential spokesman” when i do lectures or talks on PR or communication. now we are wondering what are the qualifications to get hired as spokespersons in malacanang?
just a note to end this peice – todate malacanang has not retracted the statement made by fajardo.
why senator miriam defensor loves cerge remonde so much
we take with keen interest senator miriam santiago’s point of view that cerge remonde should be “eliminated”. errr, we think senator santiago means remonde has to resign his day job of press secretary of the arroyo administration.
we have written about cerge remonde in this blog before, one was in reference to the OBOBS parade on the million peso dinner arroyo had in new york (read here: http://2010presidentiables.wordpress.com/category/cerge-remonde/) and the other on cerge remonde’s boob job booboo. not his boobs but president arroyo’s breast 
augmentation scandal. on the last one, one of the lesson learned is that cerge remonde makes it a point a point to look at the boobs of president arroyo. he has done it so often and might be on a regular basis because he was able to compare the size of president arroyo’s breasts to those of sexy showbiz stars. (read ans click here: the lessons arroyo’s breast implants taught us – cerge remonde looks at arroyo’s breasts)
we love to see where this love that santiago has on remonde will go. senator santiago is one of our favorites in the senate. we think she is one senator the country should never do without. but we can’t say the same thing on cerge remonde.
read in full here: Santiago calls Remonde ‘illiterate and ridiculous’
maguindanao massacre: martial law may give the ampatuans free instead of gravest punishment
we will be running a series of posts in this blog that will look into the governments action against the ampatuans in connection with the maguindanao massacre.
we will be picking up relevant quotations from news articles to collapse them into a whole.
Rebellion can be a defense against murder charges.
Other senators warned that the imposition of martial law
could exonerate the Ampatuans from their involvement in the massacre of 57 people in the province on Nov. 23 because of warrantless arrests and seizures.
Gordon said Congress’ endorsement of Presidential Proclamation No. 1959 would provide the perpetrators of the massacre with a way to escape the heavier penalty for murder by embracing the rebellion charges.
Rebellion charges carry lighter penalties, he noted.
Gordon said the government might be letting others get away with the worst crimes and the worst penalty by claiming that the Ampatuans were engaged in rebellion.
“The scope of martial law is sweeping, and if this issue gets buried over time, they can be pardoned for their rebellion,” Gordon said.
“Aren’t we making a mistake? … (A)s a lawyer, I know that if we declare martial law is valid, and the suspension of habeas corpus is valid, and even if we charge them with multiple murders, Mayor Ampatuan and his lawyer will say Congress has declared martial law as valid, therefore, we are rebels,” Gordon said.
“And because we are rebels, you can only charge us with rebellion,” the senator said.
“The government is bungling the case. The evidence seized illegally cannot be used against the Ampatuans. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the right against illegal searches and seizure is suspended,” he said.
Martial law does not suspend the Bill of Rights, Pangilinan said.
In a statement, the FSGO aired concerns that the steps being taken by the government under martial law might be “successfully challenged” in the Supreme Court and eventually “allow the murderers to go scot-free” on technicalities.
“While seemingly answering the public clamor for justice for the victims, the Arroyo administration may be laying the foundation for justice to be denied,” the FSGO said. “It was murder in Mindanao, not rebellion. Being staunch allies of the Arroyo administration, it is incredible for the Maguindanao leaders to go against that administration,” it said.
read in full here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091211-241312/Murder-raps-may-be-buried
what is the real reason for declaring martial law in maguindanao?
we are publishing here this news article in full. we think this is a very important topic. this is next in wawam! after hours.
Bernas warns of amnesty for Ampatuans
By Cathy C. Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:47:00 12/09/2009
“Murder committed in pursuance of rebellion is not considered a separate crime and is therefore absorbed by the charge of rebellion. The government must take care to prove two separate offenses, that murder preceded the charge of rebellion and was not committed as part of it,” said Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, a former dean of the Ateneo College of Law and a columnist of the Inquirer.
In an interview, Bernas noted that testimony gathered by investigators already included the confession of “a perpetrator who said the order given to them was to kill [the Mangudadatus]. There was no connection to rebellion [at that time].”
The government has arrested members of the Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao for the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people.
Witnesses have tagged Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. as the one who ordered the killings.
Mind testimonies
Bernas urged government prosecutors to pay attention to testimonies that the mayor had ordered the murders.
He noted that acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in her 20-page report to Congress, had alleged that rebellion was committed by the Ampatuans to justify the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao.
“Rebellion runs the risk of being granted amnesty, which can be pardoned by the President following final conviction,” said Bernas, who has been teaching criminal law since 1962.
Earlier, administration critics voiced fears that the rebellion charge against the Ampatuans might override the multiple murder charges stemming from the Maguindanao massacre.
“Murder done in pursuance of rebellion can then be absorbed in the rebellion charge. But if the murders were done separately, then these should be treated as a separate crime. If murder is committed before a rebellion, if it precedes the rebellion, it must be treated independently,” Bernas said.
Congress’ power
In the same interview, Bernas said Ms Arroyo was not allowed to extend the 60-day martial law declaration in Maguindanao without Congress’ consent.
He said Congress had the power to revoke martial law through a majority vote of the Senate and the House of Representatives voting jointly.
“Congress can also extend martial law if requested by the President, because [she] cannot do it on her own. If Congress wants to stop martial law, it can vote to do so. However, the Constitution is silent on how long Congress can extend martial law,” he said.
petitions filed at supreme court to nullify martial law in maguindanao
No factual basis
The petitioners all insisted that there was no factual basis for the martial law proclamation since there was no actual rebellion or invasion.
In their petition, Salonga et al. said Article VII Section 18
of the 1987 Constitution “limits the ground (to declare martial law) to rebellion and invasion” and “none of these grounds are existent.”
“Nowhere in Proclamation No. 1959 were the constitutive elements of rebellion proven or even alleged. For one, the alleged establishment of positions to resist government troops by heavily armed groups does not automatically amount to a public uprising—an essential element of the crime of rebellion,” they said.
Police matter
The petitioners insisted that the massacre was a “police matter” that has been addressed by the President’s declaration of a state of emergency.
They claimed that Ms Arroyo did not follow the “sequence of graduated powers” under the Constitution when she declared martial law and simultaneously suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
“Declaration of martial law through Proclamation No. 1959 is a classic example of recklessly resorting to a ‘strong medicine,”’ said Salonga and his fellow petitioners.
They pointed out that Ms Arroyo did not declare martial law to suppress the MILF, which reaches a far greater scope of influence than the Ampatuans.
They also said that not even former President Joseph Estrada declared martial law when his administration went on an all-out war against the MILF in 2000.
Dilangalen said mere “threats of rebellion” could not be a valid ground for the declaration of martial law and suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
“There is absolutely no public uprising and taking up of arms against the government in the area covered by the assailed proclamation. It is, in fact, in the excluded area, said to be controlled by the MILF, that the elements of rebellion may be attendant,” he said.
read in full here: 5 petitions filed in SC to nullify martial law
many groups oppose martial law in maguindanao – martial law has no basis
we are printing here the voices of many groups who are opposed to the 
declaration of martial law im maguindanao. many of these groups are saying martial law was an over-kill, unnecessary with the country having enough laws to achieve the stated goals and it has no legal basis.
“The official, unanimous position is we see no legal and factual basis for martial law,” De Lima told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message, following an emergency meeting by the CHR commissioners en banc Sunday morning.
De Lima said the CHR’s opposition to President Macapagal-Arroyo’s martial rule in the province was “because of its serious repercussions on the human rights situation in the area.”
read in full here: CHR chief sees no legal basis for martial law
The outspoken rector of the Bacolod Diocese’s San Sebastian Cathedral called on the Filipino people to stand up and oppose President Macapagal-Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao because it would set a dangerous precedent for the entire nation.
“President Gloria Arroyo is person obsessed and addicted to power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so martial law in her hands is very dangerous,” Fr. Felix Pasquin said.
There is no legal basis for the President to declare martial law, and it is also immoral,” Pasquin said, adding that it was an overreaction to the situation in Maguindanao.
read in full here: Priest slams Arroyo’s martial law
The Supreme Court disputed the government’s contention that the court system in Maguindanao was no longer functioning, one of the stated reasons for declaring martial law in the Central Mindanao province.
Lawyers, lawyers’ groups, Church prelates and the Commission on Human Rights also disputed whether the constitutional basis for declaring martial law—invasion or rebellion—was present in the Maguindanao situation.
Midas Marquez, the high court’s deputy administrator and spokesperson, said the cases involving the Maguindanao massacre that were filed before the Cotabato courts were moving forward.
He said it was the search warrants issued by the Kidapawan Regional Trial Court that made possible the police raids on the residences of Ampatuan family members, the suspected perpetrators of the massacre.
“This is far from a picture of a non-performing judicial system,” said Marquez.
read in full here: Supreme Court: No basis for martial law
Senators Benigno Aquino III, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Jamby Madrigal and Francis Pangilinan separately questioned the President’s action which, Malacañang had said, was needed to quell a “rebellion in the offing” by forces loyal to the powerful Arroyo ally, the Ampatuan clan.
In a press conference late Saturday afternoon, Senators Aquino and Mar Roxas, the Liberal Party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates in 2010, said they were prepared to challenge the declaration of martial law before the Supreme Court.
read in full here: Senators oppose Arroyo’s martial law proclamation
maguindanao – the wealthy ampatuans rule over squalor and poverty
we are printing in full here this article, it says maguindanao is the 2nd poorest province in the country and yet the ampatuans, their family members controlling practically all of maguindabao live in wealth and comfort.
Wealthy Ampatuans rule over squalor
By Cecil Morella
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 14:51:00 12/06/2009SHARIFF AGUAK— Ulambay Sinsuat was grilling fish when armed troops poured into a pair of palatial homes near her hovel and detained two of the most powerful men in the southern Philippines.
As dawn turned to day, Sinsuat watched hundreds of residents flee when they realized Maguindanao province had been placed under martial rule following an election-linked massacre of 57 people blamed on the region’s ruling clan.
The troops’ targets were the clan’s chief and provincial governor Andal Ampatuan Sr, as well as one of his sons Zaldy Ampatuan, the head of a larger Muslim autonomous area in the southern Philippines.
But Sinsuat, a 44-year-old fishmonger, did not have the luxury of fleeing the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak on Saturday, illustrating a miserable rich-poor divide that critics say the Ampatuans perpetuated in Maguindanao.
“We can’t leave because we don’t have money,” Sinsuat told AFP as flies swarmed around her grilled carp and mudfish that lay unsold in the town’s near-deserted public market.
“We live just behind Governor Zaldy’s mansion. The smoke from grilling the fish would sometimes waft into his backyard. But our house is tiny, it’s just a hut.”
The Ampatuans’ mansions, with their huge courtyards containing fleets of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, are rare monuments to wealth in Maguindanao, officially ranked the country’s second poorest province.
The province is situated on one of the most fertile river valleys in the country, but it has no signs of industry or economic activity except for tiny farm plots and small public markets.
The roads that branch off from the main national highway, where sheep and geese cross, are rutted or unpaved, even though the local government receives and is meant to disburse tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues.
The Philippines’ economic planning ministry says 63 percent of Maguindanao’s population of 711,000 are poor, with 342,000 residents earning less than one dollar a day.
The area has been ruled virtually unchallenged by the Ampatuan patriarch for nine years, and he installed many of his relatives into top provincial posts during a reign critics say was characterized by violence and fear.
Sixteen out of the 22 towns have mayors belonging to the Ampatuan clan, with lesser posts also occupied by relatives and allies.
The national government, the clan’s close allies until the November 23 massacre, now accuse it of using state funds to arm hundreds of militia members, some of whom allegedly took part in the killings.
One clan member, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has been charged with 25 counts of murder and police have filed indictment papers saying the clan leaders detained in their mansions on Saturday should also be charged.
The nation’s human rights commissioner, Leila de Lima, said the Ampatuans’ reputation as warlords was widely known well before the massacre, which was allegedly carried out to stop a rival from running for governor next year.
Raids in Maguindanao following the declaration of martial law on Friday night have uncovered a stunning array of weapons and ammunition that the government insists the Ampatuans illegally amassed.
Documents that could show the Ampatuans rigged elections may also have been uncovered.
“We dug up bandoleers (shoulder belts for bullets) and documents over there yesterday,” said Private First Class Domingo Igat, pointing to a huge Ampatuan-owned warehouse across the road from the Shariff Aguak municipal hall.
“They included voters’ registration forms, voters’ identification cards. They tried to burn them before they buried them, but not all the documents were burnt.”
The Ampatuans had been close allies of President Gloria Arroyo and members of her ruling coalition for many years.
Their support helped Arroyo win the 2004 presidential election against popular movie star Fernando Poe, amid widespread allegations of poll cheating in Maguindanao.
The Ampatuans were expelled from the coalition only in the wake of the massacre and revelations of the clan’s activities in the media.
martial law declared in maguindanao – maguindanao massacre aftermath
click here to read article: Martial law declared in Maguindanao
with martial law declared in maguindanao the speed of justice will perhaps move faster and more will be arrested. there are 100+ killers that particiaped in the maguindanao massacre, so far only 3 suspects, all ampatuans have been arrested.
we think martial law is an over-kill and unnecessary – we have enough laws and government agencies working on the case to get everyone arrested but they are just moving too slow. we don’t know why but the results are just not coming in as fast i think the victims deserve.
let us hope that with martial law, things will move much faster.
Memo To: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – fire Lorelei Fajardo, the Maguindanao Massacre aftermath
dear ms. arroyo,
you may have not noticed it yet, but this must be one of the most shocking faux pax in philippine PR history – lorelei fajardo, your own deputy spokesperson just put as “friends” with the ampatuan family, today’s most hated family, evil personfied. the ampatuans are the primary suspects in one of the country’s most gruesome mass murder.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is maintaining her ties with the powerful Ampatuans despite their expulsion from the ruling
party and the filing of multiple murder charges against one of them in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre of at least 57 people in Maguindanao province.
“I don’t think the President’s friendship with the Ampatuans will be severed,” Lorelei Fajardo, her deputy spokesperson, told reporters Thursday in Filipino. “Just because they’re in this situation doesn’t mean we will turn our backs on them.”
spokespersons aside from being your voice to media are supposed to be good at turning negatives into at least neutral if not positive (“spin”) and /or putting you in a good light.
that statement of fajardo does not do any of it. in fact what it did was the exact opposite – it has associated you with the country’s biggest negative in history and it put you in a very bad light.
mrs. president, fajardo just said you are friends with evil!
it is really very hard to understand why fajardo will ever think what she said was anything good in any way.
her intent was to uphold the value of “loyalty to friends”? to paint a picture of you as someone who sticks to her friends, no matter what.
while she was upholding loyalty to friendship, what about the value of human life, 57 of them allegedly taken by the ampatuans? what about torture, rape 
and the wholesale killings of the innocent? fajardo does not find these to be more important than “loyalty to friends”?
you are the president of the country, certainly the set of values or your priorities in life should always be biased towards our laws, the constitution and what is best for the greater good.
what fajordo said is the exact opposite of what you are supposed to be. in its most bare essence, her job is supposed to be good things if not great things; good vibes if not admiration and what sounds right if not what is right. fajardo did not do any of that in her statement.
now we are wondering what is lorelei fajardo’s job when she said that? is her job (a) to spin what is bad into at least neutral if not good or (b) is she being true to her role as your spokesperson.
what we have written here so far is on the first one, letter (a). so we now ask – did fajardo say the real you?
we would strongly recommend that you fire lorelei fajardo from her job before she causes you more damage. the saying – “with friends like fajardo, who needs enemies?”
sincerely yours,
~wawam~
read latest, click here: lorelei fajardo, presidential spokesman quits
maguindanao massacre: backhoe operator is named – Hanid Delayudin
this man, HANID DELAYUDIN, reportedly the backhoe operator is of particular interest to us. i think the backhoe operator in this mass murder crime is one of the most evil among them.
he was tasked to hide the evidence and proceeded to dig earth and bury the dead, including the vehicles the victims rode in.
i know this is being asked of all the killers, but i think this question has special meaning for this man – how could he have done what he did?
how can a man with a soul scoop up 57 dead bodies and bury them? did he think it was part of his job, just another day at work? how much was he paid to do his job during the day? is there a price that can compensate for such a task?
we hope the authorities catch up with him very soon. we would like to know how he looks like. we want to see his eyes to see for ourselves the eyes of evil.
Backhoe operator in Maguindanao massacre named
By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:01:00 11/27/2009MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Police identified Friday the supposed operator of the backhoe found at the crime scene that was reportedly used to dig shallow graves for the more than 50 victims of the carnage in Maguindanao province.
Senior Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detective Division, identified the operator as Hanid Delayudin, who remains missing as of this time.
Based on their interview with Engineer Landap Gunaid, the provincial engineer of Maguindanao, Velasquez said Delayudin failed to report to work on Tuesday, a day after the killings.
Because of this, Delayudin, a regular employee at the provincial engineer’s office, is now considered a suspect, Devanadera said.
“He was the assigned operator of the backhoe for that day. He has a lot to explain. Malaki ang maitutulong niya kung lulutang siya at magpapaliwanag kung bakit andun ang backhoe niya [He will be a great help if he will surface to explain why his backhoe was there],” Velasquez told reporters.
Based on records of the Maguindanao provincial engineer’s office, the backhoe found at the crime scene has been issued out since November 4 for a project in the area and was supposed to be returned on November 20, a Friday. The killings happened on Monday.http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091127-238727/Backhoe-operator-in-Maguindanao-massacre-named
maguindanao massacre – the evil done to the victims, how the victims were tortured and killed
“Even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was horrible. It was not done to just one. It was done practically to all the women,” Devanadera said on GMA Network.
“The zippers of their pants were all undone. We have yet to determine whether they were raped. But it is certain that something bad was done to them.”
The group was massacred in a mountainous area, said “Boy,” adding that all the slain women were raped, and the journalists who were part of the convoy, also killed so that no one would talk about the incident.
“Boy” said the whole process lasted little more than an hour before they abruptly abandoned the scene following a warning that members of the military were nearby, the report added.
“We didn’t get to finish, which is why the excavator was left there,” he said. “Someone called and said soldiers were on their way. I feel they have connections among the soldiers.”
maguindanao massacre – the bullshit shoved in our mouths or do they really think we are all idiots? read here BS #2 – both ampatuans and mangudadatus are allies
no, we are not referring to the gruesome and evil pictures of the victims of the maguindanao massacre. those pictures are a reality that we must all see to keep reminding us that we need
to be strong and we need to stay with it until we get justice for the victims. it is only right that we all puke out of seeing those pictures or she tears or offer a prayer for the victims. every puke we do, every tear and every prayer we say will get us closer to pushing the philippine government to finish the job they are mandated to do and the cry of all citizens – make the arrests, get them to court and punish them!
the bullshit that we see being shoved into our mouths are the things we read in the newspapers as to what the government is saying and doing. well, they are not doing much to solve the crime but they are actually doing and saying a lot in shoving BS into our mouths.
we will expose it here and i think after you read them, you will ask the question – do they really think we are all idiots?
read and tell us what you think.
bullshit #2: “the ampatuans and the mangudadatus are both allies of the president“. that is malacanang’s standard answer to the question – is malacanang treating the suspects, the alampuans who are known allies and supporters of arroyo with favor?
that answer is an answer devised by a PR practitioner or a crisis management expert. malacanang is on crisis management mode. the role of the crisis management expert or consultant is to devise strategies part of which is crafting answers to questions.
that answer to that question was said by two malacanang officials – cerge remonde on CNN and ermita in a separate interview. it is obvious that the crisis management consultant has coined the answer.
the intent of the answer is to deflect the question, make it appear like they are answering the question but in truth they are not but it has the effect of the issue being put down to rest by the interviewer. it succeeded on that point of view as the interviewers no longer pursued the point after the answer was given.
that is BS #2 they shoved in our mouths. let us know and post your comments – do they really think we are all idiots?
maguindanao massacre – how the victims were killed
we thought for a long time whether we should start this post. we ended up deciding, yes we need to do a post like this. we think its important for all of us to understand what happened during the magindanao massacre so that it will strengthen our desire to not let this pass.
we are hoping that if we understand what happened, we will understand better why we must persist and demand justice for the victims from the philippine government.
Esmael Mangudadatu Jr :
“My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it,” he added.”They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her.”
They were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote farming road close to a town bearing the Ampatuan name.
“It’s difficult to take what had happened to my brother. Only animals can do such a cruel act. Justice is all we need,” Allan said.
Bal’s body was riddled with bullets in the head, stomach and leg.
Five of the convoy’s blood-spattered and bullet-riddled vehicles were found on Monday alongside an unpaved farm road near many of the bodies, said Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu, the top police forensics official on the scene.
The final car was also found close by on Wednesday in a hastily dug grave alongside 11 freshly discovered bodies, Khu said.
But police also unearthed a sedan and a second van, neither of which was part of the convoy and which were owned by residents of the area who had no affiliation to the politicians or journalists, according to Khu.
“The car and the second van were not part of the convoy,” Khu said. “They just happened to drive past.”
A few kilometers off the main highway, on a remote hilltop covered with waist-high grass, bodies lay with twisted hands reaching in the air. They had been shot point-blank.
Nearby, cadavers were being laid out under banana leaves on Tuesday as police—their faces covered against the stench—unearthed a mass grave containing 22 victims from Monday’s ambush on an election caravan.
Police, aided by a backhoe, worked most of Tuesday to extricate the bodies from the mass grave. All had been shot multiple times and were dumped on top of one another. One was a pregnant woman.
“Anyone from the Mangudadatu clan – women or children – should be killed… We don’t ask why, we just followed orders,” the witness who identified himself as “Boy” told Al-Jazeera correspondent Marga Ortigas in an interview posted on the network’s website Thursday.
“Boy” said that the orders came directly from Andal Ampatuan Jr., Datu Unsay mayor, and whose family was also an ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
december 5, 2009 – view new pictures posted in this blog.
WARNING: these are gruesome pictures, view at your own risk
click here to view new pictures: maguindanao massacre photos. warning: gruesome photos, view at your own risk
Maguindanao Massacre – your message to President Arroyo & the philippine govrnment
messages for president arroyo is starting to appear in this blog. we are starting this post where you can post your messages that you want president arroyo and others in the philippine government to read. we will be posting them here in the main post as we receive them.
Gem Myck:
madam President please please lang kumilos naman kayo…di yung tago ka ng tago sa palasyo mo o di kaya pa iba-ibang bansa ka pa..ano ganyan nlang ba yang ampatuan masaker…kawawa naman yung mga kamag anak ng biktima dito …ehhh kung sa inyo mangyari tong karahasan na to…God Bless nlang sa mga Mangudadatu…
amaptuan:
Dear Ampatuan Family,MGA PUTANG INA NIYO!! MGA BAKLA! BAYOT! HINDOT! MGA IYUDIPUTAH! MGA MALILIIT ANG TITI! MGA KUPAL! MGA GAGO! KUMAKANTOT NG MANOK, ASO SAKA KALABAW! DAPAT SA INYO DALHIN DITO SA MAYNILA TAPOS IGAPOS SA PLAZA PARA BATUHIN NG TAONG BAYAN TAPOS SAKA BALATAN NG BUHAY TAPOS BUHUSAN NG SUKA AT BUHUSAN NG ASUKAL AT LANGGAM PAG BUHAY PA SUNUGIN, PAG BUHAY PA RIN IPASAGASA SA PISON PAG BUHAY PA RIN ILAGAY SA GILINGAN PAG BUHAY PA RIN IPAKAIN NA LANG SA BABOY!!
Nagmamahal,
Karding
ramborat:
PARA SA ATING PRESIDENTENG KAPAMPANGANG ASO!!! UNG TUTA MONG NAGBEBENTA NG DVD PAGSABIHAN MO AT NASOBRAHAN ATA SA KAPANGYARIHAN!!!
jasper santos:
Mahal na Pangulong GMA ano po nangyayari sa ating bansa, Amputa!
breaking news: suspects in maguindanao massacre arrested
finally, on day 4 some action has been taken. this is good!
something funny here though – the PNP chief DOES NOT KNOW how many were arrested and who were arrested. hahaha.
well, okay, we will not bitch about that. it is strange, don’t you think? for such a high profile case, the PNP chief does not know the details of the case. for something as big and as high profile as this, if you were in the field, wouldn’t you take time to fax the names of the suspects to the PNP chief???
Suspects in Maguindanao slays arrested—PNP chief
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 07:59:00 11/26/2009MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Several gunmen linked to a powerful Philippine politician were arrested Thursday over the election-related massacre of at least 57 people, the country’s police chief said.
“We don’t have an exact number [of those arrested], but our policemen in the area have arrested several,” national police Director General Jesus Verzosa said on dzBB radio.
He identified the suspects as militiamen under the control of Andal Ampatuan Jr., who is accused of masterminding Monday’s killings in the southern province of Maguindanao.
“Andal Ampatuan Jr. is a suspect. He has sent feelers and Secretary Dureza will accompany him to submit to an investigation,” Verzosa said, referring to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s adviser on the southern island of Mindanao.
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