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finally the real definition of “justice for SAF 44” gets into President Noynoy Aquino’s head

February 1, 2015 Leave a comment

after several days, 2 speeches and 12+ hours of one-on-one meetings with the families of the slaughtered SAF 44, the real definition of “justice for SAF44” gets through the thick (dense), (totally) stubborn and (very) confused head of president noynoy aquino.

this is what we read in today’s PDI (read here : http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669544/aquino-orders-filing-of-raps-vs-milf-biff-butchers).

it is a breakthrough!

we intently listened to Aquino’s 2 speeches, we even read each one twice, one the Filipino as delivered speech and the other the English translation and we noticed as early as the first speech he delivered to the country via national TV was Aquino did not call for the arrest and prosecution of the MILF and BIFF killers of the SAF 44. in that first speech, it was not even pussy footing about it, it was plainly not in his speech. that national TV speech was i think 2 or 3 days after the SAF 44 slaughter.

IMG_2807

after that national TV speech, Aquino was on silent mode again. then we heard he will be delivering another speech, a eulogy at the wake at the PNP headquarters in Manila for the slain SAF 44. we were hoping it will be in his speech.

we were disappointed. yes, Aquino mentioned “justice”,  he gave a strange and very wrong definition of “justice”. there he was facing the families of the slaughtered SAF 44 and the nation  and he defined ‘justice for SAF 44″ as “we will catch Usman”.

Aquino vows justice for SAF 44: ‘We will get Usman’
read here : http://www.rappler.com/nation/82423-aquino-justice-pnp-saf-44

FULL TEXT President Aquino’s eulogy for slain SAF men
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669163/full-text-president-aquinos-eulogy-for-slain-members-of-pnp-saf-in-mamasapano-maguindanao#ixzz3QSpJWGPF

[English] President Aquino’s speech addressing the nation on January 28, 2015
read : http://www.gov.ph/2015/01/28/english-president-aquinos-speech-addressing-the-nation-on-january-28-2015/

we have been calling out this wrong definition of “justice” by Aquino on twitter.

so yesterday, Aquino finally got the true meaning of “justice for SAF 44”, the article at the PDI had this as the lead in on the article:

 

 

Finally, a tough stance from the Commander in Chief.

After being roundly criticized for not once coming out to condemn the Muslim rebels who massacred 44 police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, last Sunday, President Benigno Aquino III has ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prepare criminal charges against those responsible for the carnage.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669544/aquino-orders-filing-of-raps-vs-milf-biff-butchers#ixzz3QSsihSAi

that was the first time Aquino talked about putting to justice the killers of the SAF 44. we think that miracle happened after Aquino had his 12+ hour one-on-one talk with the families of the SAF 44. in another article at the PDI, it said there were two points that was said by the families of the SAF 44 : education concerns for the children of the slain SAF 44 and “justice”.  we suppose that hearing the word “justice” from 44 families over 12 hours finally got it through Aquino.

Aquino holds 12-hour dialogue with heroes’ kin

The quest for justice for their slain loved ones and ensuring the education of the children they left behind were the primary concerns of the families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who perished in the police operation against an international terrorist in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, a week ago.

—-

Common refrain: Justice

Although they did not ask for the specific details of the operation to get Marwan and local terrorist Basit Usman, Roxas said the families sought the President’s intervention in seeking justice for their slain loved ones.

“They asked for justice. They specifically mentioned the word ‘justice,’” he said. “There were one or two of them who questioned the need for the peace process.”

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669560/aquino-holds-12-hour-dialogue-with-heroes-kin#ixzz3QSu0A49t

during the 12+ hour meeting of Aquino with the slain  SAF  families, through twitter, we wondered and wished that there will be a policy change from Aquino’s standpoint on the slain SAF 44. we assumed that the point of having one-on-one meetings with the families had at last two main objectives : (1) for Aquino to express his personal condolence to the families and (2) for him to hear exactly what the sentiments of the families are.

knowing what the sentiments are will enable the government to retool its efforts and policies towards the SAF families and the whole event. i thought it was a great effort and the right thing to do. there is nothing better than the president himself talking face to face with the families. while we saw the meetings as admirable and the right thing to do, we were not sure if it will get the right result from the meeting. after all, noynoy aquino, the president of the country is known to have a very thick head (dense), is totally stubborn and often very confused about things.

we are happy that aquino finally got it. we should thank the families of the 44 SAF families that they told Aquino exactly what was on their minds.  while we kinda celebrate this, it worries us that for anything to get through to Aquino, it will need 12+ hours of non stop talking. but that point will be for another post.

we are trying very hard  not to take anything away from this. we congratulate Aquino for this turn around. let us hope that these will not be just words, that Aquino will show he truly gets it with concrete action.

 

the 6 unfinished businesses on the slaughtered 44 PNP SAF commandos that will make you scratch your head

January 31, 2015 Leave a comment

 

IMG_2805

the fallen 44 PNP SAF commandos

this is truly a shocking time for the Philippines – just a few days after the visit of Pope Francis to the country where 7 million went to Luneta to hear Pope Francis say mass and all 100 million of us were transformed and united  by the words of the pope and of God, we were shocked out of our wits by 44 faces of these young men of the PNP’s SAF unit who were all slaughtered in Maguindanao.

there should be some kind of irony that they died in the hands of the MILF and BIFF soldiers who we assume are Muslim and belong to the faith of Islam just a few days after the head of the Catholic faith was in the country  but we will not discuss that now. maybe for another day,

we sat in shock after more information were given on the incident that involved the 44 SAF personnel and how they died. we were brought into deeper shock when we heard the speeches delivered by government officials that listed what they will do and not do. from that shock, we are listing here things that we find and we put this mildly as unfinished businesses. and not putting it mildly, things that made us scratch our head.

in no particular order:

1. president aquino in his speeches defined ‘justice fpr the SAF 44″ as ‘the government will ctach Usman”, not as “catch the murderers of the 44 SAF men“. Usman is the other terrorist that the SAF was supposed to serve a warrant of arrest to.  the other one is international terrorist Marwan who according to the PNP was killed in the encounter.  Usman and Marwan were together, in separate huts but very near each other during the encounter.

we fail to see how catching Usman gives justice to the slaughtered 44 SAF men. the 44 SAF were slaughtered, they were murdered while doing their duties, the rule of law says murder is a crime in the Philippines and it is punishable. the president of the country not saying anything even remotely near that is at minimum disturbing and very disappointing.

we know that often times Noynoy Aquino has logic that only he understands but this one is one of the extremes. defining “justice” in that way seem to show he jumped several, actually many logic gaps that he did not bother to explain to us.

we are not even mentioning the fact that it took Aquino 3 days before he spoke about the massacre. he delivered 2 speeches on the matter and we listened intently to those two speeches. we listened as we wanted to hear from him that the government will pursue the killers. it was not mentioned in his first speech. it was also not mentioned in the second speech but it was there where he gave that strange definition of justice.

i scratched my head for the longest time on this one.

unlike president aquino, DOJ sec De Lima had made a statement that gives the proper definition of “justice for SAF 44”. De Lima shoulod be elected president! 

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima issued a statement assuring the families of the justice department’s commitment to pursue justice for the fallen Special Action Force men.

“But we need to first ascertain the full facts surrounding the whole incident, including the identification of perpetrators,” De Lima said.

She added: “We’re looking at criminal liabilities for various offenses, such as multiple murder, homicide, serious physical injuries, direct assault, illegal possession of firearms … obstruction of justice and others.”

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669344/chief-justice-sereno-kris-among-those-who-paid-their-last-respects#ixzz3QPEjn3ea
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

 

2. aquino seem to be giving the criminals among the MILF and BIFF a free pass on the crime they committed. it is ironic that the 44 SAF men died to uphold and execute the law and yet aquino seem to have given a free pass to those who broke the law and killed the 44 SAF men. justice, rule of law and even common sense were mangled to unrecognizable bits and pieces here.

3. according to news reports, 392 SAF men, a whole battalion was mobilized for the operation – how was it that the officers in the PNP chain of command didn’t know that a whole battalion of  men were being mobilized?  DILG chief  Mar Roxas and the PNP OIC both claim they did not know about the operation and these two gentlemen are part of the chain of command. the chain of command must have a long list of officers down the line but none of them noticed the mobilization or if they did, none of them reported the matter to higher ups?

the SAF men are stationed in many different parts of the country. to assemble 392 men in one place will mean small and big groups of men will be travelling from different places to go to one central location. aside from men preparing and leaving, equipment, arms and transport of all sorts would have been mobilized. surely, officers in the chain of command would have noticed the large amount of people and logistics are getting moved.

if the PNP chain of command did not notice the mobilization of 392 men, one battalion, it can mean the national government is susceptible to a coup detat and they will not even know  a battalion sized army with arms are already assembled and have commenced the attack on the government.

really, they did not know?

4. president Noynoy Aquino knew about the operation. aquino said he was told of the operation. it is not clear who was telling hin of the operation. the question here is this – why is a captain or even a major or colonel talking directly to the president? are we supposed to believe that? aquino as president knows by practice and i suppose in some handbook somewhere that men with the rank of general are the ones who have access to him. and these are not ordinary generals, they are usually 4-star or 5-star generals, the chiefs of the forces, not some middle level military or police officer. the military and the police are totally anal about procedure and the chain of command. protecting and upholding the chain of command is very critical in any military and police organization.

aquino says he knew about the operation, so what is this a captain or a major in the SAF who led the operation is a textmate of aquino? unlitext? or unlicall?

5. general Alan Purisima, the former PNP chief who has been suspended from office by the ombudsman was apparently in control of the operation and presdient Aquino knew it. we’re not questioning the skills and knowledge of Purisima but why was he actively involved and in fact the lead in this operation when getting suspended means he is not supposed to perform the function that he was supposed to be performing?  in simple terms, a suspension means “you do not perform your function” but that was violated here. since he performed his function contrary to the order of the ombudsman, is Purisima now liable to be jailed?

the other head scratching moment here is that president aquino was a party here. Aquino admitted he was talking to Purisima about  the SAF operation. in other words, the president was a party in violating the suspension order of the ombudsman.

6. terrorists Usman and Marwan have been in the MILF territory apparently for years – the MILF has been coddling international terrorists?  it is not like these two just dropped by at the MILF territory. they had houses in the area. their wives and family were there too. the MILF know who they were and they allowed them to stay in their territory without reporting it to the police or the army. the MILF coddled and harbored the international terrorists. they are bomb makers and they have killed a lot of people in Mindanao and in the case of Marwan also in Bali, Indonesia.

we are not a lawyer. we do not claim any knowledge of the law. and we are not looking at these items from the point of view of the law but just from the eyes of a citizen using common sense. none of these things can be explained by anything close to common sense.

197 charged in maquindanao massacre – finally!

February 9, 2010 Leave a comment

this is a long time coming and we thought it was forgotten.  we have known for long that  justice moves slow in the philippines. but this one is ridiculous given the how gruesome the murders were and the kind of attention it got from the public. you would think with what happened and the intense interest of the people on the case, this will move much faster than what is happening now.

—–
197 charged with murder over Maguindanao massacre 
Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:20:00 02/09/2010

MANILA, Philippines—A former close ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 196 other people were on Tuesday charged with murder over an election-linked massacre that horrified the nation, prosecutors said.

Andal Ampatuan Sr., the head of a Muslim clan and the former governor of Maguindanao province where the slaughter of 57 people occurred last year, was among those charged, according to papers filed in a Manila court.

In total, 197 people were charged, including other senior clan members, local government officials and policemen who allegedly helped organize the killings, as well as thugs accused of abducting and shooting the victims.

“The confluence of events before and immediately after the commission of the offense leads us to no other inference than that respondents Andal U. Ampatuan, Sr., Datu Zaldy “Puti” U. Ampatuan, Datu Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, Sr., Datu Norodin Ampatuan, and Datu Jimmy Ampatuan connived with the actual perpetrators,” prosecutors said in a lengthy report outlining their case against the group.

“There is direct evidence that these respondents agreed to commit the crime,” said the prosecutors led by Senior State Prosecutors Leo Dacera. “All the conspirators are answerable as co-principals regardless of the extent or degree of their participation.”

However, only 11 of those charged are in custody, with most of the others still on the run nearly three months after the November 23 killings, according to police.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100209-252224/197-charged-with-murder-over-Maguindanao-massacre

the ampatuans with free use of cellphones while in jail – allows them to plan an escape/rescue from their jail, intimidate witnesses, destroy evidence and access their bank accounts

January 4, 2010 Leave a comment

Ampatuans ‘VIPs’ in jail
They have cell phones, catered meals in PNP camp
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 23:35:00 01/03/2010

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Even in their detention cell, the Ampatuans appear to live like kings.

The suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao apparently have mobile phones, catered meals, even someone who comes daily to clean their cell in the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) compound at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Fermin G. Lira Jr.

Four members of the powerful clan that once enjoyed a close friendship with President Macapagal-Arroyo are being held at the CIDG lockup. Three are brothers—Zaldy Ampatuan, suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; Sajid Ampatuan, former acting governor of Maguindanao; and Anwar Ampatuan, mayor of Shariff Aguak. The other is their uncle—Akmad Ampatuan, vice governor of Maguindanao.

read in full here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100103-245345/Ampatuans-VIPs-in-jail

that was the headline story in today’s PDI. the headline story for tomorrow’s PDI will probably be this one – CIDG probes Ampatuans’ ‘VIP treatment’ in police camp. (click here to read in full: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100104-245437/CIDG-probes-Ampatuans-VIP-treatment-in-police-camp).

 

to us, it did not make sense that detained suspects are allowed so much luxury such as catered food. the use of cellphones to us in particular is the most stupid of the VIP privileges given to the ampatuans.

with the cellphone, the ampatuans while inside the jail can call anyone, including people who they can direct on what to do to hide evidence, tamper with evidence, talk and even intimidate witnesses.

one of the reasons why suspects are detained is to give the investigators a free hand to collect evidence and look for witnesses. having the suspects detained inhibits the freedom of the suspects to do any of those. giving them cellphones makes it all very easy for them to do just that.

the ampatuans can have the most sophisticated cellphones and it will allow them to use the internet, allowing access to almost anything not only limited to email or websites for general information  but more importantly their bank accounts. they can transfer funds, close accounts and do almost anything to their bank accounts.

almost all cellphones have cameras and that means they also have the ability to make not only audiol but visual contacts with the outside world. with built in cameras in cellphones and even  webcams on the other side, they can even have teleconferences, and do picture and video sharing.

the activities that have been allowed to the ampatuans with the use of the cellphone are not just limited to activities that will enable them to take an active role in winning the cases that will be filed against them through evidence hiding/tampering and witness intimidation, they can also plan and give intelligence information to their private armies outside of the jail to help them escape from detention.

videos and pictures of the jail the ampatuans are in, the layout of their cells and the jail itself , the kind of security equipment inside their cells may be transmitted to the outside world so that they can plan a flawless escape from their detention. the point of jailing them is to prevent escape. the ability to send our videos and pictures of the jail they are in keeps no secrets from any group who will want to free the ampatuans from their jail cell.

all of the above are very possible and yet the CIDG chief sees there is nothing wrong with it. (read in full here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100104-245492/Nothing-wrong-with-Ampatuans-VIP-treatmentCIDG-chief)

we think this CIDG chief, should be fired from his job and jailed himself as soon as possible.

 

“I don’t think we can consider those as violations or special treatment,” Director Raul Castañeda, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday.

 

zaldy ampatuan calls on a “friend”, gloria macapagal arroyo. arroyo is his alibi and malacanang confirms the alibi – maguindanao massacre update

December 31, 2009 Leave a comment

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.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091231-244761/Up-to-court-to-call-Arroyo-on-alibi-of-Ampatuans

 

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.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091231-244761/Up-to-court-to-call-Arroyo-on-alibi-of-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 12/31/2009

MANILA, 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.”

Read more…

maguindanao massacre in dvd – wth???

December 28, 2009 Leave a comment

DAVAO CITY — Bootleg digital video disc (DVD) copies of the “Maguindanao Massacre 11/23/09,” are now being sold underground in many parts of Mindanao, according to those who have seen the “film.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer was able to get a copy of the DVD. Running over four hours, the DVD showed the actual retrieval of the bodies from the massacre site at Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.

It showed the blood-soaked, bullet-riddled and mutilated bodies of the Ampatuan massacre victims. Most of the footage had graphic images of body parts protruding from the earth.

The origin of the Maguindanao Massacre DVD is not known but a DVD vendor in Koronadal City said he got his stocks from a supplier in General Santos City.

The INQUIRER secured a copy of the film, sold at P120, from a vendor who requested that he be not named, saying he feared for his life.

“Please don’t tell anyone that you got it from me…I only gave you this because I trust that you will not tell that it came from me. It’s scary,” the vendor said, referring to the movie. “Nakakatakot…sobrang nakakatakot. At nakakadiri (It’s really scary and it’s gross),” he said.

The vendor indicated he was also scared of the Ampatuan family, whose key members have been charged in connection with the massacre and were the erstwhile allies of Malacañang.

The material contained the first two days of the retrieval operations conducted by the authorities after the November 23 abduction and grisly murder of at least 57 civilians, 31 of them journalists and the rest close relatives and supporters of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, a Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate running against the Ampatuans in the 2010 elections.

It is not clear whether the content of the DVD was from the documentation done by the team that conducted the retrieval operations.

The DVD opened with the convoy of the retrieval operations team that traveled to the dumping site in Barangay (village) Salman. Immediately after, the amateur camera captured the yellow backhoe excavator that had the marking “Under the Administration of Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr.”

For more than four hours, the camera focused on the excavation of the victims. First to be exhumed was a woman, believed to be one of the lawyers of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who wore a brown-striped blouse.

A man was later overhead as saying: “Sino ito? Si attorney? Sige…kunin na ang lahat kasi lahat tayo ay kapamilya na dito eh.”

After the first body was recovered, a man was also overheard as saying: “May ara pa (Are there still more)?”

“May ara pa gid. Marami yan sila dyan…(There would surely be more. There are a lot of them buried there),” another man answered.

When the body of a woman, wearing a green blouse and yellow pair of pants, was exhumed, a voice was heard saying: “Ka-daming tama…”

And judging from the looks of the victim, the same man suspected that she may have been sexually abused.

There were at least eight men who were exhuming the bodies, using shovels and their bare hands alternately. The film showed the lousy and slipshod retrieval of bodies and evidence, done by non-experts. It was only in the latter part of the first day and the second day that police experts got to work in the retrieval operations.

When shovels and bare hands proved to be slowing down the retrieval, the authorities later decided to use the backhoe to dig the grave where the victims were dumped. It was then that more and more bodies were found, including that of Mangudadatu town Vice Mayor Eden Mangudadatu, sister of Esmael.

Eden was immediately identified by the men involved in the diggings. A mobile phone was also recovered and a man was overheard as saying that “gitago nya sa loob ng sapatos. (she hid it inside her shoe).”

The Day 2 of the DVD opened with the diggings now aided mainly by the backhoe. It was on the second day that the retrieval operations teams dug up the vehicles, which were also dumped into the grave in an apparent effort to hide evidence.

And when more bodies were recovered, a male voice said: “Buti pa yong manok na panabong kahit na kargado sa gamot, kapag di na tumutuka ang kalaban, din na papaluin…” (Fighting cocks are treated better.)

In Koronadal City, a Maranao vendor said he has run out of copies of the DVD.

He said they have been selling it for P120 per copy, and even bragged about the clarity of the DVD he sold as the material was taken by members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives of the Philippines National Police.

“I’m expecting my order to arrive anytime tomorrow. The one you’re holding is a clear copy because members of SOCO filmed it,” he said in Filipino.

Janice Cabasag, 29, a resident here, told the Inquirer that she managed to procure a clear copy from a vendor for only P70.

Cabasag said the DVD contained footage of the actual retrieval of the bodies in the village of Salman.

“Looking at those images of death, I can feel the pain of the families who lost their loved ones. Those who did it are demonic,” she said.

Mario Alasin, who maintains a small restaurant here, also told the Inquirer that his staff bought a copy, but he had refrained from seeing the footage.

In Parang town in Maguindanao, Norma Cantal, admitted she bought the same copy at the public market.

When asked about the sale of the DVD, Corazon Cabillio, wife of slain journalist Jimmy, said she has heard about the DVD but has not seen a copy. Cabillio said she was interested in getting a copy.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091228-244373/Bootleg-DVDs-of-Maguindanao-massacre-on-sale

amapatuan jr. gets stabbed… with a camera lens! who the hell forgot to bring the knife?

December 19, 2009 1 comment

when i saw the headline and the headline photos in today’s PDI, i thiought geez there are so many angry protesters in that hearing! i was shocked to find out that the ones who mobbed andal ampatuan jr. at yesterday’s hearing in the quezon city courts were not activists but media men!

that must have been quite a sight! ordinarily, it’s the protesters on one side, the subject and the police on the other and media men on the sides or at the back of both groups. in this one, the media people were right there in front of andal amparuan jr.!

we cannot blame media – so many of them died in the maguindanao massacre. i do not think there enough words to describe why what happened is so wrong in so many ways not only for the media people but for everyone else who were murdered on that day in maguindanao.

some of the protesters were shoving blown up pictures of the dead in the massacre on the face of ampatuan. that i think is just too mild for what was done. someone needs to cut those pictures in tiny pieces and,,,never mind.

do not get us wrong, we are not advocating violence on ampatuan jr. but we are advocating justice for all those who died. we think all 100+ killers and the mastermind/s should be arrested and punished.

there is another an even more interesting part of this story.

From PDI: “Diaz said a cameraman hit the mayor in the forehead with a camera. The concussion—it was a big bump—bled. It was definitely deliberate,” Diaz said. “We really tried to secure the mayor but we found it hard when some members of the media acted this way,” he said.”

we like to file this protest against what Mr. Diaz said about this incident where he mistakenly refers to the picture above as “deliberate”. upon extensive forensick analysis of the picture, we do not think it is deliberate but rather any one or several of the following occurred:

  • the camera man was just taking a super macro shot of ampatuan’s right eye for the record. he was given this assignment by his editor in the name of good journalism.
  • then someone pushed the camera man and since the camera was heavy, it accidentally dropped on ampatuan’s face
  • no camera man in his right mind will do that to his camera and risk damage to his primarily tool in his job, even this one – an old lens that has not been working and cracked for years now
  • question – are there no camera lens that are as sharp as knives? or a lens that is as sharp as nail? memo to camera man: next time, please use the proper lens for shots like these.
  • finally, who the hell forgot to bring a knife????? aren’t knives standard issue to camera men too?  

lorelei fajardo, presidential spokesman quits or fired?

December 19, 2009 2 comments
WAWAM! after hours post on lorelei fajardo

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.

question need to be answered: how did the ampatuans amass so much arms and ammunition?

December 17, 2009 Leave a comment

i think the question, “how did the ampatuans mass so much arms and ammunition?” deserves a separate and parallel investigation. this i think ranks very close in importance to the most important question on who were the killers of the 57 dead.

it’s shocking to read in the newspapers that military officers and men are shocked to see the kind and the number of arms and ammunition the ampatuans have. one of the officers even said the ampatuans have certain high powered arms that are very rarely used and very few elite members of the armed forces are able to use.

everyone are so amazed by the quality and quantity of the arms and ammo but we do not read enough news on exactly what the government are doing to find out how the ampatuans were able to get them. many of them are still in their shipping cartons with markings of the “Department Of National Defense” and the “AFP”. they obviously came from the AFP/DND itself.

the soldiers and police of the philippines themselves should push for a thorough investigation of this matter so that it can be plugged and stopped in the duture. they should be concerned it is these arms from the warlords who are killing the AFP soldiers and police in the fields. any military person know that one of the more effective ways to fight terrorists and rebels in mindanao is to deny them arms and ammo. without them, they obviously cannot wage war on the afp and the police.

but we have not heard anything from the government.

why senator miriam defensor loves cerge remonde so much

December 13, 2009 2 comments

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 martial law has no legal basis

December 11, 2009 Leave a comment

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.  

For her part, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the martial law declaration had no legal basis. Santiago noted the absence of an actual rebellion and ideological motivation to rise up against the government. She also said that public safety was not endangered by the “crimes committed by the warlords.”

On the floor, Santiago explained that the framers of the 1987 Constitution envisioned actual, not imminent rebellion. Until yesterday, she said there was no media footage or pictures of two groups “shooting at each other.”

“The Constitution imposes two conditions for martial law; there should be a state of actual rebellion and public necessity requires it. These conditions do not exist today,” she said.

“Hence, I humbly submit this general test for constitutional martial law: Is martial law a necessity for the existence of the state? The answer is ‘No.’ I further submit this particular test: Is there an actual rebellion, and does public safety require martial law? Again, the answer is ‘No.’”

Santiago said the penal code defines the crime of rebellion as “rising publicly and taking arms against the government for the purpose of removing from the allegiance to said government or its laws.” In other words, she said rebellion was an open, organized and armed resistance to established government.

 

Santiago pointed out that PP 1959 did not even claim that there was a state of actual rebellion which, she said, was a “fatal flaw.”

She said the proclamation’s claim of “heavily armed groups in the province of Maguindanao have established positions to resist government troops” was not a condition contemplated by the Constitution.

Santiago also reminded the Cabinet officials that rebellion was a political offense, not a common crime and, thus, carried a lighter penalty than murder.

She said the essence of a rebellion was “ideological motivation,” and since it was absent there was no rebellion in the first place.

She later explained to reporters that the Ampatuans were neither “communists nor fascists” but mere warlords. “I say again, show me the rebellion,” she told her colleagues.

The second condition warranting martial law is that “public safety requires it,” she said.

“But crimes committed by warlords against each other are basically threats to the safety only of their respective camps,” Santiago said, suggesting that “what they constitute are not threats to public safety per se, but acts of terrorism.”

She said when two groups were quarreling, “they are not danger to public safety, but they are threat to each other.”

In a petition filed Thursday, Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and a former chair of the Commission on Elections, and Ateneo de Manila University lawyer Carlos Medina Jr. said there was no factual basis for Presidential Proclamation No. 1959 because there was no actual rebellion or invasion—the only grounds for martial law that are allowed under the Constitution.

In their petition, Monsod and Medina said there was “absolutely no factual or legal basis to support the finding of existence of rebellion.”

They said there was no declaration by the Ampatuans or their supporters of an intent to overthrow the government, or of any public uprising by them that would endanger public safety.

Monsod and Medina also said there was “no showing that the alleged failure to function of the local judicial system and other government mechanisms in Maguindanao endangered public safety.”

“It is evident that the President and respondent (Ermita) are desperately grasping at straws and ascribing political motive where there is clearly none,” they said.

“The mere presence of armed groups without a clearer statement as to their actual identity or purpose cannot be taken to inevitably and automatically imply the face of rebellion or invasion,” they said, adding:

“All there is, is a vague assertion that local governments and courts in the area have ceased, refused or have otherwise been unable to perform their functions.”

sources: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091211-241312/Murder-raps-may-be-buried

maguindanao massacre: martial law may give the ampatuans free instead of gravest punishment

December 11, 2009 Leave a comment

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

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091211-241314/Petitions-to-high-court-stopping-1959-now-total-7

what is the real reason for declaring martial law in maguindanao?

December 9, 2009 Leave a comment

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

MANILA, Philippines—A member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission Tuesday warned that the Ampatuans might be granted amnesty by the government should they be found guilty only of rebellion.

“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

December 8, 2009 Leave a comment

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

December 6, 2009 Leave a comment

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

December 6, 2009 Leave a comment

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 12/06/2009

SHARIFF 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

December 5, 2009 1 comment

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.

maguindanao massacre photos. warning: gruesome photos, view at your own risk

December 5, 2009 76 comments

posting in this blog  these photos posted by eliza in the facebook group “Punish The Killers In The Maguindanao Massacre, Justice For The Victims”

WARNING:

 these are gruesome pictures, proceed to view at your own risk.

click below, “read more”

Read more…

The 30 media martyrs of Maguindanao

November 30, 2009 1 comment

Thirty, and not just 27, reporters and media workers were killed in a manner brutal beyond description in Maguindanao province on Nov. 23.

Another journalist, Jolito Evardo of UNTV General Santos City, had not yet been accounted for as of press time.

The 30 media workers comprised more than half of the 57 confirmed fatalities of what is now known as the Maguindanao Massacre, according to a list compiled and verified by the humanitarian and fact-finding mission of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), a network of independent media organizations, including the PCIJ.

As verified by the mission, the complete list of the 30 “media martyrs” of Maguindanao is as follows:

  1. Adolfo, Benjie—Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
  2.  Araneta, Henry—radio dzRH, General Santos City
  3.  Arriola, Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac”—UNTV, General Santos
  4.  Bataluna, Rubello—Gold Star Daily, Koronadal
  5.  Betia, Arturo—Periodico Ini, General Santos
  6.  Cabillo, Romeo Jimmy—Midland Review, Tacurong City
  7.  Cablitas, Marites—News Focus, General Santos
  8.  Cachuela, Hannibal—Punto News, Koronadal
  9.  Caniban, John—Periodico Ini, General Santos
  10.   Dalmacio, Lea—Socsargen News, General Santos
  11.   Decina, Noel—Periodico Ini, General Santos
  12.   Dela Cruz, Gina—Saksi News, General Santos
  13.   Dohillo, Eugene—UNTV, General Santos
  14.   Duhay, Jhoy—Gold Star Daily, Tacurong
  15.   Gatchalian, Santos—dxGO, Davao City
  16.   Legarte, Bienvenido Jr.—Prontiera News, Koronadal
  17.   Lupogan, Lindo—Mindanao Daily Gazette, Davao City
  18.   Maravilla, Ernesto “Bart”—Bombo Radyo, Koronadal
  19.   Merisco, Rey—Periodico Ini, Koronadal
  20.   Momay, Reynaldo “Bebot”—Midland Review, Tacurong
  21.    Montaño, Marife “Neneng”—Saksi News, General Santos
  22.    Morales, Rosell—News Focus, General Santos
  23.   Nuñez, Victor—UNTV, General Santos
  24.   Perante, Ronnie—Gold Star Daily correspondent, Koronadal
  25.   Parcon, Joel—Prontiera News, Koronadal
  26.   Razon, Fernando “Rani”—Periodico Ini, General Santos
  27.   Reblando, Alejandro “Bong”—Manila Bulletin, General Santos
  28.   Salaysay, Napoleon—Mindanao Gazette, Cotabato City
  29.   Subang, Ian—Socsargen Today, General Santos
  30.   Teodoro, Andres “Andy”—Central Mindanao Inquirer, Tacurong

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091130-239276/The-30-media-martyrs-of-Maguindanao

Categories: Kahindik-hindik, maguindanao massacre Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

November 26, 2009 Leave a comment

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?