Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cotabato (Agenzia Fides) – The Maguinano massacre was "an announced massacre.” For days, the "people on the street" knew of threats and impending clashes between rival clans, which had "their own armed paramilitary bodies." "And the local police are accomplices in the massacre." This is what Church sources who are well informed and present in the area, have told Fides in their account of the why and how behind the massacre.
Behind the tragedy is an "unwise decision of the Central Electoral Commission (which has several regional branches). Three weeks ago it decided to transfer its office from Cotabato City to Sharif Aguak, capital of the Province of Maguindanao. All those candidates wishing to register their candidacy for the elections in the province had to go to that office. The city is known for age-old "feud” between the Ampatuan Clan and the Mangudadatu Clan. The convoy of the Mangudadatu was forced to enter "in the mined territory" to ratify its "electoral challenge." The Mangudadatu themselves feared that the mission could turn into violence. This is why the peace delegation was formed by lawyers, journalists and women, who were to serve as a deterrent to discourage those with evil plans. A police escort was also called for, but refused with reasons like "it it not standard procedure" and "the road is safe."
The climate of tension, the atavistic rivalry, the hatred and desire for revenge turned the electoral mission into a massacre where no one was spared – not even women, children, and journalists.
“Violence and tensions were already familiar and in the elections of 2004 and 2007 there were clear signals that could not be ignored," said Fides sources.
As evidence of a short-sighted decision and one with very little observance of the local context of the province, the Electoral Commission today withdrew its decision, reopening the site in Cotabato and adding an office in Sultan Kundarat.
On a local level, the community of the Province of Maguindanao is still surprised by the "open defiant challenge" placed by the Clan of the Mangudadatu, with the young representative Ismael, running against the much more powerful candidate of the Ampatuan for the seat of Governor of the Province.
It should be noted that "the Ampatuan Clan controls the entire government in Maguindanao, including the local election commission, the police, and the Armed Forces. It was really a unit of the police, backed by hundreds of armed civilians, that halted the convoy of Mangudadatu, "making themselves accomplices in the massacre. For this reason the provincial police chief, Abusana Maguid, was arrested. If you really want to break the chain of impunity, the soldiers and civilians responsible should be sought out by the provincial government itself," Fides' source concluded. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2009)
