by Eliseo Mercado Jr. , OMI

November 23rd is now etched in the history of the province of Maguindanao as the day of shameless ignominy. On that day, a convoy of the women folks of the Mangudadatu clan, accompanied by their women lawyers and media people was on its way to the capitol of the province in Sharif Aguak municipality when it was stopped by PNP forces with hundreds of armed civilian volunteers (under the command of the PNP) along the national highway in Ampatuan municipality. The convoy was directed to take the farm road leading to a deep hole meant to be the mass grave of the entire members of the convoy and other vehicles that happened to follow the convoy.
It all began about three weeks ago with a Comelec Resolution directing the transfer of its satellite office from Cotabato City to the Maguindanao capitol. Then, another resolution came directing all candidates in the province to file their certificates of candidacy at the provincial capitol. These resolutions looked innocent when read and seen outside the concrete political context in the province.
Anyone in the place knows that the said resolutions follow the logic of the local politics and the control over the Comele on the ground. The Comelec can neither feign ignorance of these realities nor wash its hands in the ensuing massacre in Maguindanao. The concrete experiences of 2004 and 2007 elections and the participation of the Comelec in the province are too gross to ignore.
There is a reason and politics in the physical shifting “capitol” sites. There is a need to locate the “capitol” in a place to ensure total control. For this reason, Maguindanao can qualify to put the capitol building on wheels. It began in Cotabato City; then the late Datu Udtog Matalam moved it to Pagalungan; Post Datu Udtog, it was moved back to Cotabato City; then to Maganoy (Sharif Aguak); Zacaria Candao moved it back to Cotabato City; then he moved it to a new site in Sultan Kudarat. The Ampatuans moved the ‘capitol’ back to Maganoy where it is now.
The total control of the capitol ensures absolute control over all government machineries in the capitol site, including the Comelec, PNP and AFP.
The Comelec transferred its satellite office to Sharif Aguak and the requirement to file the certificates of candidacy in the ‘capitol’ is NOT as innocent as it looks unless Comelec was born yesterday!
This Comelec decision has forced the Mangudadatus to go into the heartland of the Ampatuan clan. Vice Mayor Toto Mangudadatu decided to go and file his certificate of candidacy. But he was prevailed upon by the mother to let the women do the filing. The clan believed that Toto’s presence in Aguak may lead to actual bloodshed. The mother and the religious leaders believed that an all-women delegation accompanied by media people and women lawyers would be respected. Islam strongly enjoins believers to respect women and children even during times of war.
As a double insurance for the delegation, the Mangudadatu clan had asked for police escorts from the PNP provincial command. It refused to do so. Understanding the perceived partisanship of the Maguindanao PNP, the clan asked for military escort from the 601st Brigade that has an operational responsibility for area. They were told that the AFP does not give escort to politicians. The clan appealed to the highest military command in the region for a security escort for the women. They were assured by the highest military command that the ‘road is safe and there will be no need to worry’.
With that assurance, the all-women delegation began the trek to Sharif Aguak. At crossing Salman along the national highway in broad daylight in Ampatuan municipality, the convoy was stopped, including the other vehicles accidentally passing by that momentous time, by hundreds of armed groups believed to be CVOs that included some officials of the PNP in the province and a local mayor positively identified by the Mangudadatus.
The entire convoy was led to an open pit dug by the provincial engineering equipment. There the carnage began with brutality and no mercy for women, children and the members of the media.
The last vehicle in the convoy, delayed by few minutes, saw the whole gang stopping the convoy and made positive identification. It turned back with speed and asked for help. But alas, the help came too late.
Today, the people of Maguindanao and Cotabato City are in total disbelief for what they are hearing over the radio as the massacre continues to unfold. They are stunned and shocked! The real word is feeling of revulsion for how things stand in the province and the community.
The Comelec has now allowed filing of candidacy in the City and in Sultan Kudarat without filing for an exception. It has also returned the satellite office to the city. Comelec shares the blame for this massacre. Ignorance can never be an excuse! It was a very costly political decision!

by Rev. Dr. Mariano C. Apilado

I feel violated and brutalized by the unconscionable, barbaric and inhuman act that resulted in the massacre of more than fifty people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.
I was almost immobilized because I did not believe think any Filipino could be so cruel and insensitive as to commit such heinous acts.
I was then reminded of the special mission of this column – to provide hope precisely at a time of cruelty and uncertainty.
I then composed the following prayer. I invite every reader to join in offering it.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.” (Bible, Matthew 5:9)
“If anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.” (Qur’an 5: 32)
Almighty God, God of Truth, Peace, Justice and Forgiveness we, Christians, Muslims and Lumads, pray to you, in humility and with courage because a terrible sin has been committed in our land.
Forgive us, O God, because by our silence and indifference to the root causes of violence, we may have been indirectly responsible. We trust you, and so we courageously pray for understanding, reconciliation and peace for our people and our time.
More than 55 people, mostly innocent civilians, including media persons, were massacred.
We pray for your care, compassion and healing among the families victimized, including those directly affected and involved in the unconscionable inhuman act.
We pray for your truth, justice and peace to be restored in our country and in our time, beginning with the people affected.
We pray for order, safety and respect for the dignity of persons; we pray, too, for the restoration soonest of the rule of law so that people can be assured a culture of peace and understanding.
We pray, meanwhile, that sobriety, calm and the spirit of reconciliation may reign in the hearts of all peoples, Muslims, Christians and Lumads alike, in Mindanao and our whole country.
The Prayer was used and endorsed during the monthly session of celebrating life on November 25, 2009 at the UCCP, Matina Highway, by 40 pastors.
I also used the prayer during a meeting of the Focus Rebuild Mindanao that same day, November 25, 2009 at 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the Brokenshire Resource Center, Madapo Hill, by more than 30 religious leaders representing the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, Muslims and Lumads.
Finally, I offered the same prayer during the opening of the Mindanao Week of Peace on November 26, 2009 at 7:30 0’clock in the morning at the Rizal Park, where more than a thousand people attended.
At a time when our values as a people and our human dignity and integrity are threatened by violence and brutality, we pray to God as refuge. Our hope in God is only a prayer away.

by Alex Roldan

It had been foretold. Everyone knew that it was going to happen. It did happen too soon, and with a big bang. The wholesale slaughter of at least 57 people, including more than 30 mediamen, is a testament to how politics has evolved in this nation. 
The killing of so many mediamen is unprecedented in the history of journalism. It happened in the Philippines, despite  alarming information earlier circulating that the situation in Central Mindanao, particularly the relations between the two competing powerful political clans, was so volatile that violence could break out at any moment. Yet, the government did nothing, so the worst did come. It did not only come as an ordinary election related violence, but it did come with a direct assault to the democratic way of life of this country.
The perpetrators did it with impunity, because they believed that they had the power, they own the government, and most importantly, they believed that they could get away with it. I may be wrong with my conclusion of why it did happen and why it was done in the most bestial manner, but who can do it at such a magnitude if they don’t believe that they can get away with it! That they can buy justice in this country — as shown by past experiences of crimes committed by personalities, involving the same prominent political surnames despite strong legal evidences against them. 
I may be full of anger now against the perpetrators, but it pains me to realize that the political system of this country has degraded largely towards an uncivilized form. That some politicians, after tasting power and wealth, feel that they are already on top of the world and could easily hack down anybody who dares challenge them. But worst of all, they rub elbows with the powers of government that propped their egos to high heavens and to show to everybody that in this part of the world, they are invincible.
They recklessly show their power by parading their riches and private armies with their high-powered weapons that only the Armed Forces of the Philippines is authorized to have. And the saddest thing about it is that these private armies were made legal by our government by simply converting them into armed civilian volunteers, becoming beneficiaries of regular allowances or pay from the government, making all others helpless against power and strength of these political terrorists! In their position are not only the dreaded force called 3Gs (guns, goons, gold). Add another G, the Greed (a lot of it) that overarch their intentions, and the last but essential to complete formula of power is the G force, or the Government Force! Summing all of it would produce savage human beings.
Vice Governor Manny Pinol was right in saying that this was a disaster waiting to happen. When I interviewed him at RMN, he claimed that he himself warned Malacanang  – that the Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans would certainly clash this coming election. Professor Moner Bajunaid agrees, but he thought that it would not be so soon, but both of them were not prepared for the worst — that so many mediamen were included in the carnage. 
I was glad for Secretary Jess Dureza, for he was given the task to make sure that the conflict would not escalate into a full-blown conflict that other forces may take advantage of the situation, thus making the situation more complicated. He knew from the start that he was going to face a formidable task of maintaining order in Central Mindanao while maintaining objectivity in heeding the call to make sure that the perpetrators are brought before the bar of justice. He is in the thick of the public’s thirst for a government who could show that that it has the political will against the very people who helped the residents of Malacanang achieve power. Yet, despite criticisms of partiality he was able to make sure that the primary suspect would surface and face the accusations. That, at least, has controlled the situation momentarily.
I don’t believe that the private armies of these warring clans could be disbanded easily despite the suspension of the authority to carry firearms by civilians and para-military groups. Either side would not want to be clipped, as this would mean giving-up their power and clout. Their armies are their lives – to protect them against their enemies, ensure that they could continue to hold political power, and as a machinery to ensure that they can deliver the votes for whoever national candidate they would support in exchange for favors, and of course more clout. 
Well, good luck to all of us, for this situation has completely changed perspectives. The government should act swiftly, despite legal limitations, because the nation –and the whole world– are watching very closely.
For comments, e-mail to: roldanalex@yahoo.com

by Nicasio Angelo Agustin

With 60 dead bodies so far and counting, the horrific evil that is the Maguindanao Massacre has left the entire country and the rest of the world reeling with disbelief. And the shocking details keep on coming.
Aside from the initial reports of a hundred armed men, rape, a backhoe on stand-by to bury vehicles and human beings (whether they were still breathing or not); there was a red Vios whose passengers – Tacurong government employees – were indiscriminately and bloodthirstily murdered for the simple reason that they took the wrong highway at the wrong time. We were told that Mrs. Mangudadatu was slapped repeatedly before her body was dragged by a vehicle for five kilometers; but did you know she was ordered to chew and swallow her husband’s Certificate of Candidacy?
The hairs on my neck are still standing as I write this. The brutality, pre-meditation and cold-heartedness of this gruesome disregard for what makes us human beings seems like a bad scene from a B horror movie. But the reality is that 57 lives – and counting – were snuffed out just like that. For a mob of men to be able to do what they did, they would have had to be intoxicated: high on drugs, drunk with power, inebriated with animalistic rage. This corruption of the soul needs to be condemned in the strongest terms; I hope the fear we feel will not immobilize us but provide the trigger for our collective action.
A call for action in reaction to this tragic event does not mean a call to arms and paving the way for more bloodshed. This tragic event does not imply that all our efforts for peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping have been inutile. Inroads have been made where there were no roads for reconciliation before and if there is one thing this tragic event has taught me, it is that we should strengthen and intensify our efforts in the peace process.
Undoubtedly, this massacre will have lasting effect on the peace process – both positive and negative.
Some will say that the main players in the peace process are our leaders, and rightly so. However, pessimists will say that the process is doomed if it is the leaders themselves who are accused of violating the most basic of human rights: the right to live. Another negative implication of this tragic event is the fear, paranoia and loss of trust and confidence we feel towards our fellowmen. I overheard one woman say she would not be going to a popular mall in the south anytime soon, afraid for herself and her family to be caught in-between should the two clans cross paths there, as they have often done in the past. 
Yet, others will say that this tragic event has effected a feeling of solidarity among Mindanawons, this solidarity of victims. Violence has claimed the lives of both Muslims and Christians, men and women, media practitioners, lawyers, government employees, wives, fathers and friends; it has spared no one. And thus with the solidarity of victims comes the acknowledgment that we need to look out for each other, be vigilant for each other, protect each other.
The loss of 57 lives has cast a dark cloud of despair over the peace process, as if the light has been snuffed out of the road to lasting harmony in Mindanao. The path has become dark, pitch-black and with no end in sight. It needs a brave soul – a leader – who will bravely take that first step into that darkness and light the way for all of us to follow. God said “let there be light” – and the light that we need right now is justice. Together, let us ask God, Allah, Yahweh and Jehovah for this light. Because there can be no true and lasting peace in Mindanao if there is no justice.
Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

Carnage

The recent blood-curdling slaughter of more than 60 innocent people, almost half of them members of the media, by barbaric killers in Maguindanao is unprecedented in Philippine history. It has shamed the country in the eyes of the world, threatening to cast a shadow on the honors that boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and CNN hero of the year Efren Penaflorida have earned.
The prime suspect behind the carnage is now in government custody, with calls for the arrest of more civilian, police and military officials in the province who may have had something to do with the mass murder.
We join the world’s outrage against this heinous crime and fervently hope and pray that swift justice can be meted on the perpetrators.

E-waste

A growing, albeit unobtrusive, problem Davao communities are facing is e-waste pollution. The alarm has been raised by no less than the Davao City Chamber of Commerce, Inc. through its ICT (information and communication technology) consultant Andrei Fournier during last week’s Club 888 forum atThe Marco Polo Davao.
Earth 911, an advocacy group, reported that the world’s yearly volume of e-waste is about 40 million metric tons. This type of waste includes personal computers, iPods, digital cameras and mobile phones.
In Davao, there is an urgent need to dispose of the old Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors. Aside from being no longer fashionable,  CRTs are bulky and energy guzzlers. These highly toxic old monitors emit harmful radiation, causing eyestrain, fatigue and other debilitating effects on the human body.
Knowing that a problem exists is solving it by 50 percent. We expect our community leaders in business and government to step up the campaign against this kind of pollution in the days ahead.