Supporters of political allies of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo who are suspected to be involved in the brutal slaying of 57 people held a rally Sunday, November 29, 2009 in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province as a show of force for the embattled Muslim clan. The supporters were demanding the release of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the brutal killings of more than two dozen journalists and political campaigners of a rival faction in Maguindanao province. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / November 29, 2009) – A few hundred supporters of political allies of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo who are suspected to be involved in the brutal slaying of 57 people held a rally Sunday in Maguindanao province as a show of force for the embattled Muslim clan.
Radio reports said the supporters were demanding the release of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jnr who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the brutal killings of more than two dozen journalists and political campaigners of a rival faction in Maguindanao province. The mayor denied involvement in the massacre and blamed it to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels, an accusation flatly rejected by the authorities.
Reports suggested that many of those who joined the rally were paid as much as one thousand pesos each, but this could not be independently confirmed.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said they are also investigating the mayor’s father Andal Ampatuan Snr, the governor of Maguindanao, and his elder brother, Zaldy Ampatuan, the governor of the Muslim autonomous region, and five more clan members in connection with the November 23 killings. The Ampatuans are key political allies of Arroyo in the southern Philippines.
Of the 57 people brutally murdered, at least 29 were journalists, according to the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
The journalists were traveling in a convoy with the wife and relatives and supporters of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu in Maguindanao’s Shariff Aguak town when they were held by more than 100 gunmen from a rival faction and herded to a remote hillside where they were executed.
Mangudadatu and the young Ampatuan are both running for governor in next year’s polls.
Those killed were buried in two mass graves, including the wreckage of two private cars and a media van, where at least four mangled bodies had been pulled out. A backhoe owned by the Maguindanao provincial government was recovered in the area and was believed used to excavate the graves.
The Philippine military on Friday also relieved Major General Alfredo Cayton, chief of the 6th Infantry Division, and Colonel Medardo Geslani, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, for failing to prevent the gruesome killings. Both are under investigations in Manila.
Human rights activists also urged the police and the military to secure warrants from courts and search the mansions of the Ampatuans in Maguindanao province for illegal weapons after receiving reports that huge caches of firearms, munitions are allegedly being kept in arsenals inside the houses.
Arroyo placed Maguindanao under a state of emergency and security forces have taken control of the provincial capitol buildings and the town halls of Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan. Soldiers also dismantled 347 government militias under the control of the Ampatuan clan and recalled troops assigned with the politicians as bodyguards.
The United Nations urged the Philippine government to fully investigate the brutal slaying of 57 people, including more than two dozen journalists, in the southern province of Maguindanao.
“This monstrous crime must not go unpunished,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Bokova urged the Arroyo government to carry out a full and swift investigation into the murderous attack which occurred on November 23. The UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom.
“I condemn this outrage and urge the Government of the Philippines to act swiftly, using all the resources at its disposal to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The barbaric killings of the people in the convoy – journalists and citizens alike – were clearly an attack against democracy and democratic processes. Furthermore, the killing of journalists violates the rights of the Philippine people to be freely and fairly informed of political developments,” she added. (Mindanao Examiner)
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