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Maguindanao massacre claims at least 36 lives


(Updated 10:56 p.m.) They belonged to the rival Mangudadatu clan, but since they were women accompanied by a media delegation, they believed they were safe, protected by the Koranic prescription to spare women.

No one could have predicted the ruthlessness that awaited them.

At least 36 people, mostly identified with Buluan, Maguindanao vice mayor Datu Ismail "Toto" Mangudadatu and including a dozen media people, were abducted and later killed on Monday by gunmen allegedly led by members of the Ampatuan political clan.

Toto's wife, Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu, was among those killed, according to Toto himself.

Madaser Mangudadatu, Toto's brother and assemblyman in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said some of the victims were beheaded.

Even in the annals of political violence in the Philippines, this incident may have no equal in its brutality and in number of lives taken. The Plaza Miranda bombing in 1971 killed nine at a rally of the Liberal Party.


For more news videos about the massacre, visit GMANews.TV

Philippine journalism's worst tragedy

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the victims in Maguindanao included at least 12 journalists.

NUJP officer Rowena Paraan said this is the worst single tragedy to hit Philippine journalism. "Not even in Iraq has there ever been this many dead journalists in one incident. And this one was deliberate," she stressed. The Philippines has long been regarded as among the deadliest countries for journalists.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said in a local television interview that 21 bodies - 13 female and eight male - have so far been recovered from the Maguindanao massacre.


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The victims were abducted at about 9 a.m. while on their way to the Maguindanao Comelec office in Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy (COC) in behalf of Toto, who intends to run for governor in the province. Shariff Aguak, the provincial capital, is widely known as Ampatuan turf.

Sources in Cotabato City fault the Comelec for transferring the regional office there this year from Cotabato City where it would have been easier for rivals to file their COCs.

AT A GLANCE: THE MANGUDADATU CLAN OF SULTAN KUDARAT


Source: GMA News Research

The Mangudadatu clan is most prominent in Sultan Kudarat province, although it also enjoys some local political clout in Maguindanao. The following are members of the clan who have held various political positions at various times:

Datu Pax Mangudadatu
- representative, 1st District of Sultan Kudarat (2007-2010)
- governor, Sultan Kudarat (2004-2007)
- mayor, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat (1988-1998)
- Datu Pax is the father of Datu Suharto and Ruth, and the father-in-law of Datu Raden.

Datu Suharto Mangudadatu
- governor, Sultan Kudarat (2007-2010)
- representative, Lone District of Sultan Kudarat (2004-2007)
- mayor, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat (1998-2004)
- Datu Suharto is the son of Datu Pax, brother of Ruth, and the brother-in-law of Datu Raden Sakaluran.

Ruth Sakaluran
- mayor, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat (2007-2010)
- Ruth is the daughter of Datu Pax, sister of Datu Suharto, and wife of Datu Raden.

Datu Raden Sakaluran
- mayor, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat (2004-2007)
- Datu Raden is the son-in-law of Datu Pax, brother-in-law of Datu Suharto and husband of Ruth.

There are also Mangudadatu members who hold local seats in Maguindanao province:

Datu Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu is currently vice mayor of Buluan municipality.
Bai Eden Mangudadatu is currently vice mayor of Mangudadatu municipality.

 

Knowing that it would be suicidal for him to venture into Ampatuan territory, Toto Mangudadatu sent his wife and two sisters, believing that fellow Muslims would not dare harm the women. For good measure, the women were accompanied by lawyers and media professionals. They were all abducted anyway. A source familiar with the two families says there is little hope that any one of the hostages survived.

Brawner said they were abducted by some 100 men allegedly led by Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. of Datu Unsay town and one Police Senior Inspector Dicay of the Shariff Aguak police force.

"Away politika po ito dahil yung nangyari pong pagdukot sa mga kamag-anak ni (Mangudadatu) by the elements of Mayor Ampatuan, sa ngayon po tinitingnan natin itong anggulo na ito," Brawner said on "24 Oras."

"Unequaled in history"

Presidential adviser on Mindanao affairs Jesus Dureza said the "gruesome massacre" was "unequaled in recent history."

"Even women and media men were not spared. There must be a total stop to this senseless violence," Dureza said as he recommended the placing of the entire Maguindanao province under a state of emergency.

"Anything less will not work," he said.

According to officials, most of the 36 or so victims were shot but some were run over by vehicles.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez withheld comment, saying Commissioner Elias Yusoph, who is from Mindanao and is more familiar with the situation, would issue a statement on Tuesday.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo condemned the violence and ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to go after the perpetrators.

"The President has ordered the AFP to mobilize its forces to capture the perpetrators and recover the remaining hostages," said deputy presidential spokesman Lorelei Fajardo.

In response, PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa directed the formation of a joint task force between the police and the military that would conduct hot pursuit operations against the perpetrators and recover the remaining hostages.

One source in Cotabato who is familiar with Maguindanao politics said that the PNP was virtually "the security of the Ampatuans" in the province.
 

ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, right foreground, attends the Lakas-Kampi-CMD national convention in Pasay City with Presidential legal adviser Raul Gonzalez, left, and House Speaker Prospero Nograles, center. AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner has tagged "elements" of the powerful Ampatuan clan as the possible perpetrators of the Nov. 23 massacre that claimed the lives of at least 36 people in Maguindanao. Joe Galvez



 

In an earlier interview with Radio dzBB, Brawner said the abducted victims included Mayor Mangudadatu's sisters Bai Farinah and Bai Eden Mangudadatu, the incumbent vice mayor of Mangundadatu town, also in Maguindanao province.

Toto said other abducted victims were lawyers Connie Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo, Rasul Daud, and Faridah Sabdulah, and some 30 journalists. He said the female victims were sexually assaulted.

Heinous

"Karumdumal po talaga ang ginawa. Pinagdurog-durog ang ulo at yung mga pantalon nila binaba po, nakausli po yung mga ari ng babae (What they did was really heinous. The heads of the victims were bashed and the females stripped from the waist down)," he said.

Toto said he received a call from his wife about 9 a.m., informing him that their convoy was intercepted by armed men, reportedly followers of the Ampatuans.

Genalyn complained that one of her abductors slapped her, Toto said, adding that that was the first and last conversation he had with his wife since the incident took place.

"Masakit sa akin yung kapatid ko, asawa ko mahal na mahal ko. Meron pa ho kaming anak na siyam na buwan (It pains me to think of my sister, and my wife whom I love very much. Our baby is just nine months old)," he said.



The NUJP said the "Ampatuan massacre" went beyond the issue of freedom of the press.

"The Ampatuan massacre, which the military has confirmed was perpetrated by Shariff Aguak Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and police Sr. Inspector Dicay, goes beyond the issue of freedom of the press and of expression and strikes at the very foundations of democracy," it said in a statement.

Fajardo said Malacañang is extending its sympathy to the media.

"We stand in solidarity with our friends from media and we shall provide all necessary support to assuage their fears and grief," she said.

Despite the massacre, Toto said he would continue with his plans for 2010. "Tutuloy po ako (I will push through with my plan) and no one can compel me not to run for governor." - KK, JV, HS, GMANews.TV

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