But what happened in the Province of Maguindanao, Philippines on November 23, 2009, Monday, was extraordinarily evil, indecipherably outrageous, and the worst grotesque nightmare in the history of election related death-killing crimes in the Philippines, if not, in the whole world in time of peace not war. Undoubtedly, this incident will always be fresh in everyone’s mind, leaving us with a variety of emotions that cannot easily be shaken. Paranoia, uncertainties about the unknown and the future, and a number of other feelings will continue to persist forever and ever.
The news stated that Buluan vice mayor Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu, a muslim, who has decided to run as Governor of Maguindanao got the ire of the incumbent Governor Andal ‘Zaldy’ Ampatuan, another muslim, and warned the former not to file his candidacy, or else.
To evade the threat, at about 9:00 o’clock in the morning of November 23, 2009, Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu asks his wife, Jenalyn, his sister, and some relatives and supporters, and accompanied by about thirty-five (35) men and women media people that would supposedly cover the most awaited event, and two lady lawyers. As they were on their way in a five convoy vehicles to file the certificate of candidacy in behalf of "Toto" Mangudadatu at the Office of the local Commission on Election (COMELEC) in Maguindanao Province, Philippines, when a group of about 100 fully armed men with high powered conventional automatic modern weapons abducted them at gunpoint.
The five convoy vehicles were stopped and led to a secluded area about a hundred meters away from the national highway. Then the occupants of the five vehicles were ordered to disembark/alight. But even some of them had barely begun to come out, a boo of staccato gunfire ensued…firing at the victims causing them scampering and rushing in all directions. As the victims were running everywhere, bullets of high powered automatic weapons were catching after them and sprawling their targets scattered to the grassy ground.
At least fifty two (52) people including thirty-six (36) media men and women were brutally fired upon point-blank range and killed in a single incident. This was the highest level of violence, brutal as it can be the worst in the annals of the crime history in the Philippines. Their heads were the ones that had been targeted, thus, exploded beyond recognition. They were shot in their faces. Some were buried still gasping to be alive into a shallow hole dug beforehand by a backhoe excavator owned by the Provincial government, indicating clearly who were the culprits; and that the massacre was premeditated.
It seems to me more than obvious that the Philippines, has a bigger problem than it seems.Think about that for a minute… imagine at least 50 innocent people unarmed and defenseless from your town/city being buried alive, and bashed to death--murdered in just a wink of an eye – what would you do about it?
How do you deal with that sort of hate? – with the mentality of a society where this is permitted to continue day after day virtually unabated?
If we can’t deal with this violence how then are we in any way qualified to tell others how they must live in a ‘democracy’ like ours?
Our government can and should be doing more to resolve this internal problems. Maybe then our country could start becoming a better place for all to live peacefully in.
“DO AS I SAY AND NOT DO AS I DO” has never been a good policy in this government.
The Arroyo government must go beyond declaring Maguindanao in a state of emergency and act swiftly and decisively in giving justice to the hapless victims of the massacre in Maguindanao.
Three (3) days have already passed after the gruesome incident but the government still hesitated to apprehend even a single individual despite the overwhelming evidence who they really are responsible as gathered by its own teams of investigators-- the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice.
Then I step back and wonder... is this ever going to get solved?
Pictures from http://wawam.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/maguindanao-massacre-photos-we-grieve-we-are-ashamed-we-must-not-let-this-pass/
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