Maguindanao Massacre

In light of the recent event that shocked the nation a few days back, am reposting several articles that pertain to this gruesome event.

verbatim from: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/11/23/09/buluan-vice-mayors-wife-media-men-beheaded

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MANILA – Bodies of at least 30 kidnap victims, including the wife and relatives of Buluan town’s vice mayor, were recovered by government troops in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province Monday afternoon.

Map of Maguindanao province, showing the location of the capital town Shariff Aguak, and the municipalities of Ampatuan and Buluan. (ABS-CBN News Graphics)

The killings are the first reported violence related to the May 2010 polls, which are still 6 months away. Most of the victims are women. Some are members of the media.

In a phone interview with ABS-CBN News, Buluan Mayor Ibrahim “Jong” Mangudadatu confirmed that at least 30 bodies have been recovered as of Monday evening.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. confirmed to the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) that 13 female and 8 male bodies were found by members of the 601st Infrantry Brigade of the AFP around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Buluan vice mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu told ANC that his wife, Jenalyn, his sister, and some relatives were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy on his behalf when a group of about 100 armed men abducted them.

Mangudadatu, who is running for governor of Maguindanao, said some 15 media men who went to cover the event were also seized.

The Mangudadatus believe the abduction was politically motivated. Madaser “Toy” Mangudadato, a member of regional legislative assembly of ARMM, told ANC that they sent their female relatives to file the certificate of candidacy for “Toto” in the hope that their political rivals would not harm them.

Toy said they were warned that if Toto will personally file his candidacy, he will be hurt.

The entourage left for the provincial capitol at around 9 a.m.. Toy said the group could not be contacted because the cellphones of those in the convoy were “blocked.”

Toto said his wife called him at around 9:30 in the morning to say an armed group, supposedly of the Ampatuan clan, a political rival, flagged down their convoy on their way to Shariff Aguak town, where the election office of the province is located.

He said his wife’s parting words over the phone was about the armed men slapping them around and commanding them to swallow the certificate of candidacy forms.

He told ANC it was the Ampatuans who beheaded and mutilated the bodies of his wife, his youngest sister, a lawyer, various relatives, supporters and other civilians, after robbing them.

ABS-CBN News has tried to reach the Ampatuans for comments but they could not be reached.

Family, political feud

The Mangundadatus were long-time allies of the Ampatuans, whose patriarch, Andal Ampatuan was re-elected governor of the province of Maguindanao in 2007.

Last year, the Mangudadatus went to Shariff Aguak to ask the senior Ampatuan to allow a member of the clan to vie for the gubernatorial post in 2010, according an abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Newsbreak’s military source who is familiar with politics in the area.

According to the source, however, the Ampatuans were displeased because the Mangudadatus brought with them about 200 fully armed men. This, according to the source, contributed to growing animosity between the two camps.

Buluan Vice-Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu denied the Shariff Aguak incident during the ANC interview.

The senior Ampatuan wants one of his sons to succeed him as provincial governor, according to the abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Newsbreak source.

Sources in the military say Andal is known to control his own private army, which includes two CAFGU companies and a host of civilian volunteers.

Brawner said there were about 100 gunmen, most of whom were militiamen deputised as government guards by Ampatuan’s family.

Brawner said the leader of the militiamen who staged the kidnapping was one of Ampatuan’s sons. Ampatuan could not be reached for comment as of posting time.

Revenge killings and clashes among rival political families are common in Maguindanao and other parts of Mindanao island, where unlicensed firearms proliferate and parts of which are lawless.

Islamic militants on Mindanao have also been waging a separatist rebellion for decades.

(Read background on Maguindanao clan and political wars here and here.)

Toto Mangudadatu told ANC that he will proceed with his plans to run for governor next year. “No one can compel me not to run for governor. And I just want to state this in the presence of the people of the Republic of the Philippines, especially [those from] our province that I plan to run for governor to reform our province.”

Election violence

In a radio interview, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said, “Dapat malaman kaagad ng kapulisan natin kung sino ang may kagagawan nito, para maipakita rin natin sa publiko na hindi natin mapapalagpas ang ganitong karahasan.”

She added that the incident should be a warning that security is a priority in areas where election-related violence are high.

Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said it was the Philippine National Police (PNP) that was in charge of the security in the filing of the certificate of candidacy at the provincial capitol in Sharif Aguak town.

Cayton said they have sent a battalion of soldiers and 5 armored vehicles to help the PNP restore peace in the province.

Brawner said no arrest has been made yet.

Mangudadato convoy

In a phone interview with ANC, Toto Mangudadatu enumerated the following names as part of the group who accompanied the Mangudadatu family in filing Vice Mayor Mangudadatu’s certificate of candidacy on his behalf:

Next of kin:
1. Eden Mangudadatu (Vice Mayor of Mangudadatu municipality and sister of Buluan Vice Mayor Toto Mangudadatu)
2. Jenalyn Tiamson-Mangudadatu (wife of Toto Mangudadatu)
3. Mamutabay Mangudadatu (aunt)
4. Rowena Mangudadatu
5. Farina Mangudadatu
6. Wahida Ali Kalim (civilian)
7. Faridah Sabdullah (aunt)
8. Zorayda Bernan (cousin)
9. Rayda Sapalon Abdul (cousin)
10. Pinky Balayman (cousin)
11. Ella Balayman (cousin)
12. Rahima Pyuto-Palawan (relative)

Staff:
13. Atty Cynthia Oquendo
14. Atty Connie Brizuela
15. Mr. Oquendo, father of Cynthia
16. Unto (driver)
17. Razul Daud (driver)
18. Eugene Demillo (driver)
19. Miriam Kalimbol (business supervisor)
20. Civic Edsa (driver)
21. Patrick Pamansang (driver)
22. Chito (driver)
23. Abdullah Haji Dolong (driver)

Media:
24. Ian Subang (Dadiangas Times)
25. Leah Dalmacio (Forum)
26. Gina dela Cruz (Today)
27. Marites Cablitas (Today)
28. Joy Duhay (UNTV)
29. Henry Araneta (DZRH)
30. Andy Teodoro (Mindanao Inquirer)
31. Neneng Montaño (formerly of RGMA)
32. Bong Reblando, Manila Bulletin
33. Victor Nuñez (UNTV)
34. Macmac Ariola (UNTV)
35. Jimmy Cabillo (UNTV)

Mangudadatu said he cannot account for 9 of the 44 who joined the convoy.

The total number of those who joined the convoy remained hazy with some accounts reporting up to a total of 65.

The number of media practitioners in the convoy is yet to be confirmed, too, with some accounts reporting up to 35 - with reports from Gemma Bagayaua-Mendoza of abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, and AFP

 

verbatim from: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091124-238026/Maguindanao-massacre-death-toll-rises-to-39police

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Maguindanao massacre death toll rises to 39—police

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Agence France-Presse
First Posted 08:16:00 11/24/2009

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines—(UPDATE 4) Bullet-ridden bodies were pulled out from shallow graves on Tuesday as troops hunted down the gunmen who massacred, according to the Philippine National Police, at least 39 people in one of the Philippines’ most brutal explosions of political violence.
The death toll rose to 39 after 17 more bodies were pulled from a mass grave on a hillside in the remote farming village of Saniag, said Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, the regional police commander.
“They were piled on top of each other. It looked as if they were buried hurriedly,” he told reporters from the scene of the massacre in Maguindanao province.
Twenty-two bodies had previously been found beside a dirt road nearby following Monday’s killings by gunmen allegedly linked to the area’s political kingpin.
The group abducted associates of a rival politician and a large group of journalists who were covering them.
Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, PNP spokesman, said the bodies would be taken to Buluan town, Maguindanao province, after the police have conducted an autopsy on the bodies and conferred with the victims’ relatives.
Most of the victims bore gunshot wounds, Espina said.
National police chief Jesus Verzosa, who flew to the south to supervise the investigation, said he feared the death toll could rise with several other members of the kidnapped party of more than 40 people still missing.
“We still have to check one other suspected mass grave,” he added.
“We expect more bodies from other areas,” Cataluna said.
Journalists on the scene said a mechanical digger was emblazoned with the name of the Maguindanao provincial governor, Andal Ampatuan, whose bodyguards had been blamed by the military as being behind the massacre.
The victims were among a group of more than 40 people abducted by gunmen Monday linked to Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan, head of a Muslim clan who is part of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ruling coalition.
The abducted group was made up of relatives and associates of Esmael Mangudadatu, the head of a rival Muslim clan in Maguindanao, plus a group of journalists, the military and police said.
The group was traveling in a convoy to accompany or report on Mangudadatu’s wife as she went to an electoral office to register her husband to run for governor against Ampatuan’s son in next year’s national polls.
Authorities warned the death toll would climb higher as they sought to deal with the incident.
“It’s a big area where these bodies were found. They are finding a couple of bodies every a couple of hours or so,” Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said as he described a farming area covered in hastily dug graves.
Puno said the extra bodies being recovered were on top of the the official death toll, but he would not speculate on how many people in total had been murdered.
“They are still looking for some missing persons. A number of other bodies were found. I can’t really reveal the details now. It’s a large number,” Puno said in a television interview.
Espina said Verzosa and other senior police officials flew to Maguindanao early Tuesday to personally check on the area and supervise the manhunt against the perpetrators of the killings.
He said Verzosa ordered the relief of Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, the deputy provincial police chief of Maguindanao, after he was supposedly seen with the armed men who abducted and killed the victims.
Additional police troops were also deployed in the area to prevent a possible rise of hostilities in the area.
Political violence is common in the Philippines – where more than one million unlicensed guns proliferate – and dozens of people are murdered each election season.
But the scale of Monday’s massacre, as well as the targeting of apparently unrelated people, has shocked the country.
Fourteen of the victims were women and some of them were journalists with no apparent links to the clan war, the police and military said.
Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Brawner said the Ampatuans and their associates were believed to have been responsible for the massacre.
“The suspects are bodyguards of Ampatuan, local police aides and certain lawless elements,” Brawner said.
As thousands of soldiers fanned out across the Ampatuans’ stronghold in search of the gunmen on Tuesday, sickening details of the massacre emerged.
The military said about 100 armed men stopped the convoy of vehicles on a remote section of highway near the town of Ampatuan, which bears the same name as the political kingpin.
Police said the bodies of the victims were found a few kilometers (miles) away, with a bulldozer apparently used to dig the graves still on the scene.
Police said 15 of the victims appeared to have been shot inside their vehicles while one was believed to have been cut down by gunfire while fleeing.
“All were shot at close range,” said one of the investigators on the scene, Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu.
Asked about the allegations by some of the victims’ relatives that the murdered women were also raped, Khu said: “We cannot confirm that although all the women had their pants unzipped.”
The Ampatuan clan is the longtime political kingpin of Maguindanao, a mainly Muslim section of Mindanao Island which has been wracked by a Muslim separatist rebellion for decades.
The Ampatuan patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr., has been governor for the past nine years and wants his son and namesake to succeed him.
The Ampatuan clan has been important in delivering votes to Arroyo’s ruling Lakas Kampi-CMD coalition in recent elections. The Ampatuan father is the provincial chair of the coalition in Maguindanao.
Puno vowed the government would be impartial as it pursued justice.
“I just want to assure everybody that we are doing everything necessary here, that there will be no sacred cows,” Puno said.
“This is going to be a direct investigation of the crimes that have been committed and we are going to hold the persons responsible for this.”

Stranded in Pasig (repost)

A first-person account by writer Chip Childers (sent to the Inquirer and the UNO mailing list): Reposted from Luis Katigbak’s facebook notes

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On Sunday night, a few friends and myself got a call that a friend of ours was on top of his roof and stranded with two families in the De Castro Street neighborhood of Pasig. It seemed impossible, perhaps a dramatic interpretation of reality. But, as the friend is not known to be an exaggerator, the friends immediately started packing gear and supplies, bought a drybag full of Jollibees, picked up kayaks lent for the cause by outdoor apparel companies Fluid Surf and Tribu Outdoors, and met at a gas station out on Ortigas Extension, surreally changing into lycra rash guards and helmets while people pumped gas, looking over with strange looks. As we got closer to the site, Army trucks sat, full of soldiers lounging, and giant amphibious trucks which had no hope getting anywhere in the tight streets. As night still held, we lit up our headlights and paddled towards our friends house, down streets that we had only travelled by car. On our way in, we saw what was the first of many empty Red Cross Zodiac boats, waded through the waist deep water by teams in snappy looking orange jumpsuits. Upon inquiry, they carried no food nor water in, and carried no needy residents to dry land. In the trucks, more volunteers craned their necks out, taking photographs like tourists at the Great Pyramids. As we came closer, the signs of aid became fewer and fewer and finally… non-existent.

We arrived at our friend’s house around 4 am, and yelled (don’t ring that doorbell unless you want to get shocked!) until he came out on his second floor ledge and let us in. The house, which i had spent many a Christmas in, was a write off, and still had about waist deep water in it (having receded in the night, after giving the 2 families some serious fright about when it would stop rising). All of the furniture in the sala was waterlogged and ruined. The two rooms on the ground floor were a mess of floating photo albums and children’s toys, the libraries were reduced to collections of dirty sponges, and walls lined with silt. Although this storm was not the highest as far as body count, thousands of lives will have their slates wiped clean, and will have to begin anew. The group of friends did not know where to start helping, but began the first steps of clearing the rooms, pulling furniture out, and salvaging usable items drifting in the current running throughout the living room. After staying a couple of hours, we determined what our friend needed (charge cell phones off-site and rice, amongst other things) and made our way out. The first hours of daylight brought more people out to survey the damage done in their neighborhood. As we passed out, people begged us for food, rice, help of any sort, even chastising us, thinking we were the rescuers, of whom they had seen nothing. “What took you so long?,” to which we had to humbly explain we were just checking on our friend. For the next couple of hours, we helped ferry people around the neighborhood on our kayaks, and chasing down leads of injured or elderly and children needing rides to dry land. The people were amazingly positive, and “Good Mornings” were not rare, despite the dubious qualifications of that morning being good to people for whom lives had just been turned upside down. I joked with my passengers, and they all joked with neighbors beginning the process of cleaning up, sure to be a long one. I felt humbled by their positivity, and i felt guilty that i couldn’t help more. I’ve seen a lot of things in my decade in this country, but this resiliency and pragmatic positivity was awe-inspiring. I felt choked up and on the verge of tears as i saw whole families on their second floor, waving to me and smiling, even while their first floors lay underwater. Everywhere we went, people asked us where help was. They said there were helicopters whirring overhead every 5 minutes, and an occasional empty Red Cross boat being pushed by on the main road, but no one was helping them. We helped several injured people with our rudimentary first aid, including a badly gashed foot and other nasty cuts.

As we headed out (around 8 am), on our way back to dry land, we came across another Red Cross Zodiac. The head mouthpiece of the group, a woman wearing yet another clean orange vest and some clearly defined rage issues yelled at the first two boats of our party, asking them why they were here, why they didn’t go to some Barangay we were unfamiliar with, and telling us to leave, amongst other spittle-laden outbursts. She yelled at our group in loud tones, for the whole street to hear, chastising them in angry and patronizing tones. Knowing she was wrong, and that they had indeed done good, our paddlers shook their heads and kept going. By the time my kayak came by, laden with one fairly significantly sized lola, one toddler and their 20 year old niece, I took the offensive. I asked if they had food or medicine, and some stony faced members of the group said no. I told them the people were hungry and asking us, 6 guys just trying to check on their friend why the Red Cross was here. I told them to turn around and get something for them to eat, or a bullhorn or anything at all that might have been of use. They looked away and said nothing. I paddled my needy passengers to the shore, and the orange jumpsuit brigade walked their empty Zodiac into the disaster zone. I’m sure they got great photos.

The Red Cross did not seem to have a central base at Ground Zero (if they did, they needed to let the people know about it — have someone with a bull horn and a kayak telling people where to go), they did not seem to have supplies on their boats (inquiries to their teams confirmed this), they DO NOT have a monopoly on the gaping maw of need that a disaster like this needs to fill, and after the aggressive actions of their members, they do not have my respect or support, although i am willing to admit my judgment is premature (i hope for the people of Pasig that i am very wrong). It seemed the only thing the Red Cross had at the site besides their neatly starched jumpsuits and inappropriately large watercraft were digital cameras and a Napoleon complex. There is no right way to help: normal citizens armed with rice, Snickers bars and a willingness to get sweaty can give just as, if not more effectively than sometimes bloated and top heavy aid organizations.

It was from seeing what the amazing people of Pasig did that i learned my most important lesson of the day: that roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-right-down-to-work D.I.Y. ethnic trumps every time. I’ve long been a fan of Richard Gordon, and the many photos i’ve seen in the newspaper of the Red Cross doing amazing feats in disaster zones will continue to be the way i prefer to look at the Philippine Red Cross, but the crews we came across, especially the judgmental and useless bull dog of a leader that attempted to shame and intimidate my group, has soured my impression significantly.

Rest in Peace Mary Travers

Review her life

Rest in Peace, Tita Cory

photo credit to Joe Galvez

The Baby Manual for Modern Men

Men have difficulty coping with newborns. Babies don’t come with instruction manuals, like other cool, portable accessories. So Guys, need detailed directions in a style they are used to. So here they are.

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Congratulations on acquiring Microswift Baby 0.1. Your Baby will give you years of fun if maintained properly.

But first, take a moment to register. Click here to register now. Or click here if you want Microswift to send a representative to your home who will pop up from under the sofa at regular intervals to say: “NOW would you like to register?”

Be sure to read the following QUICK START instructions before using Baby 0.1.

Your Microswift Baby 1.0 comes in a convenient container known as Microswift Woman 2.0. This container should be placed at a convenient working height. It is recommended that you use a soft surface such as a hospital bed, rather than the normal garage worktop.

Woman 2.0 is inherently unstable and can react in an unpredictable manner.

First, take Baby 1.0 out of the container. In case of difficulty, you may use forceps. It is recommend that you do NOT use other metal tools, such as crowbar, screwdriver, or lobster-grip pliers.

You will find the following items.

Baby 1.0
Placenta
Umbilical cord
(If any of these are not present, please see your dealer.)

Once Baby 1.0 is out of the package, it should switch itself on automatically. If not, pick it up and pat it gently on the pair of touch sensitive pads you find on the underside (“the buttocks”). It will immediately respond with a wah-wah-wah sound. This is normal, and should not be considered a fault.

Be sure to fully charge Baby 1.0 after unpacking. The charger is built into the container. On the upper side of Woman 2.0 you will find a storage device with a protruding jack, known as a teat. Two are provided on each container. Be careful to put it into the correct opening on Baby 1.0. The Mouth has a reddish outline. Warning: Your Baby 1.0 will not charge if the charger is connected to the Ear or Nostril.

A single charge can keep Baby going for several hours, however, it should be topped up at regular intervals, including during the night.

Always use the original container to recharge Baby 1.0. The use of random women for this purpose or other related purposes is strongly discouraged and will void the guarantee and ruin your life.

If Baby 1.0 gets dusty or lightly smeared, do not put it into a washing machine. Simply wipe with a damp cloth. However, if it gets extremely dirty, or starts to smell bad, it is recommended that you do not attempt to correct the problem yourself. Place the product back on top of Woman 2.0 and leave the room for 10 minutes.

Enjoy Baby 1.0 and show it off to your friends and family.
We are convinced that you will have so much fun that you will soon want to more Microswift Babies.

And if you don’t – well, there’s a no returns policy. So get used to it.

– ripped off from JD’s post, here’s a good blog about this too.