Yes, folks, you read the title correctly. Martial law has been declared in Maguindanao Province. As you will recall, Maguindanao is the site of the recent massacre of 64 people, including around 30 journalists, and more than 20 members of the Mangudadatu family.
Last night at 9pm, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued a proclamation declaring Martial Law in the Province of Maguindanao. I have also heard some reports that parts of Sultan Kudarat Province and Cotabato City are also under Martial Law at this time, although that is not clear to me at this time. Most news is only mentioning Maguindanao.
At around 2am this morning, Government troops moved in and took into custody Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and also ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan. Some reports say that the two were arrested in connection with the massacre, other reports say that the two were only “invited for questioning” in connection with the massacre. Either way, the two are in Government custody at this time, though. Governor Andal Sr. was taken to Davao City, and is apparently hospitalized at this time. Governor Zaldy, on the other hand, was taken to General Santos City and is currently being held at the PNP Headquarters in Barangay Tambler.
It's Martial Law in Maguindanao
For those who don’t already know, Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. surrendered to authorities over a week ago and is currently being held in the NBI jail in Manila.
There are witnesses, according to news reports, that say that the massacre and beheading of the scores of victims was planned well in advance, and that all of the aforementioned Ampatuan clan was present for the planning. It is being said that other arrests are pending now that martial law has been declared. One report just came through that another powerful member of the Ampatuan clan was arrested, but as of now, I do not know the first name of who it was.
Over the past few days, Ampatuan properties in Maguindanao were searched and found to hold thousands of rounds of Philippine Government ammunition, and also many Government weapons. These were found in places like the backyards of their personal residences. Also, a “homemade” armored vehicle, which has the looks of a tank was found in the personal possession of the Ampatuan clan. These finds certainly bolster claims that these people had a private Army at their disposal. It seems that they had not only a private Army, but the weapons to arm them as well.
According to Philippine law, the state of Martial law can last no longer than 60 days, unless other procedures are followed.
About MindanaoBob
They all need to executed just like the people they murdered. No mercy at all.
Hi Ron – I’ve been thinking about what the punishment should be. Unfortunately, I can think of no punishment that would be harsh enough, though.
Bob,
I don’t write to your site very often but sometimes I feel compelled to do so. I have an idea for punishment for them. Think back to the Japanese and Bataan, or maybe the Viet Cong.
Perhaps, Steve….
Hi Bob, I kind of figured martial law would be declared after this incident. I had a “mild” debate with a friend here in Chicago and I said something drastic had to done. I hope this incident isn’t repeated in the Philippines.
Hi Henry – And, I hope that martial law does not expand. It’s hard to put a genie back into a bottle.
If martial law is extended, can the presidential election be delayed or not held at all. I suppose that the law has changed in recent years that there will be no more dictator presidents in the Philippines. Please enlighten, Bob!
Thanks,
Ed
Hi Ed – Once you have martial law, the military is in command. There are no civil rights for anybody. There is no constitution. If something was illegal last week, it might not be now! They could put you in jail for eating the wrong flavor of ice cream if they think it is needed! Once it’s martial law, only the military gets to decide what can and cannot be done!
Hi Bob,
This was the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the massacre – declare Martial Law in Maguindanao and areas controlled by the Ampatuans. What else can you do when the ARMM governor, Maguindanao governor, mayors and many other public officials of the province belong to/are controlled by one family and are linked to a hideous crime against humanity?
The discovery of huge arsenals of firearms proves that they are armed to the teeth. The declaration of Martial Law took control away from the tainted civilian government. I realize that Filipinos are wary of Martial Law because of what happened during the Marcos era. Under these circumstances, I think it is justified. This is part of the bigger plan to bring all guilty parties to justice.
I have been watching the developments very closely and I have to say, considering the skepticism I have of the current administration, the way they are handling the Maguindanao massacre has been good so far. I guess they are doing this because they know the whole world is watching. Let’s see what happens…
Hi Tina – I personally have never been skeptical about the current administration. I always felt that those who were skeptical were simply over dramatizing things. However, with this move, I am very leery of what is going on.
After seeing the pictures of the victims at the burial site, I hope these ruthless killers gets what they deserve. If for some reason they don’t, then it will be in God’s hands.
Hi Jakeb – Yesterday for the first time, I saw real pictures from the scene (not sanitized news pictures, or blurred out). It was sickening.
Hi Bob,
Is there any way I can get a link to the same page?
I am an advocate of the free press, and I have yet to see uncensored photos.
Thank you
stevenjcampbell [AT] gmail.com
Hi Steven – Sure. Do you have a Facebook account? If so, just friend me, then look at my current status. There is a link to the pics there. You won’t be able to see them if you don’t have a Facebook account.
Looks like I picked an ‘interesting’ time to get married in Bukidnon. I really hope this doesn’t spread, but I’m also glad that the AFP is there to keep the lid on the bottle. I’m not planning on going anywhere near the affected provinces, but this is definitely something I’ll be keeping an eye on. Thanks for the update Bob.
Hi rc – You should not expect problems in Bukidnon.
Yes, it’s a relatively stable and tranquil province. And I’ll rely on my fiancée to keep me up to speed on events. But, the magnitude of this murderous episode does heighten the senses.
Hi Bob,
I am not surprised at the introduction of Marshall law in this area.
From what i’ve read in the internatial press,there has been big international pressure on the PI gov’t to bring those responsible to account.
regards Chas.
Hi chas – There are already systems within the government for bringing criminals to justice. In the UK, when there is a horrific crime, do they declare martial law? Does the military take control of the government? Are basic rights taken away from the citizens? I think not. Yet, criminals are brought to justice, right? So, why not so in the Philippines? Is it necessary to remove people’s rights to bring killers to justice? Boy, that floors me, to be honest….
Hi Bob,
I did not consider those comparisons,but alas they do things differently in PI.It may be the gov’ts way of showing the world how seriously there taking this issue,i don’t know.
The phrase “you ain’t in Kansas anymore” comes to mind.
regards Chas.
Chas – it was 37 years since martial law was last used here. So, I don’t know how “they do things differently” comes into play.
Hi Bob,
I have very little understanding of PI politics,maybe its an over reaction due to international pressures.
regards Chas.
No problem chas. I personally don’t think this has anything to do with International pressures, though. In fact, the US Government seems very wary of the martial law declaration and has told that Philippine Government that they are watching the situation closely.
Hi, Bob- Martial law is not exactly a virgin territory for the Philippines, and this is probably why they are quick to impose it at the drop of a hat. It does seem an overkill notwithstanding the magnitude of the crime, but then again, we’re just like a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks analyzing the plays that transpired the day before, but we don’t really know the real reason why the coach decided to go for the first down on 4th and 1 at the 30 yard line instead of kicking a sure field goal. Only GMA and her generals know the real reason for imposing martial law. Maybe they feel that by imposing martial law, they would increase their chances for scoring 7 points instead of 3. We just don’t know, do we?
Hi John- I believe a lot of you guys are not understanding my feelings. For example, when you say “they are quick to impose it at the drop of a hat.” That is exactly NOT my feeling. The last time Martial Law was imposed in the Philippines was in 1972. That is 37 years ago. That imposition of Martial Law led to dictatorship. I fear that again imposing martial law may indeed cause the same to happen, or it may make it easier to impose martial law again in the future “at the drop of a hat”. That should be avoided. All the people who feared GMA imposing martial law over the years are not very supportive. It’s a dangerous precedent.
John, the coach gave all the reasons why she opted for martial law. I personally do not believe those reasons to be valid. But, indeed, we do know why she did it, because she told us why she did it. Her declaration includes a list of reasons, and there have been press conferences going over the reasons.
For me, this is a little more serious than a football game.
I was alluding to the very same thing that you are wary about, Bob – that the imposition of martial law could lead to what happened 37 years ago.
OK, John, I’m sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying then. The way I read your comment, I thought that you basically thought it was sort of a good thing that they imposed martial law.
Relax Bob, martial law covers only Maguindanao. I think the issue here is whether or not there are valid grounds. For me, the amount of ammunitions found are enough to arm a big number of troops making it a threat to the national security and given the unique character of ARMM that’s almost operating like a separate country, both factors are recipes for rebellion.
Hi Roy – No need to “relax” because I am not overly excited. Yes, I did clearly say that the Martial law was in effect in Maguindanao. But, I don’t feel that it is a good thing. There are methods in existence to handle situations like this without declaring martial law. I was just watching a news conference on TV about the martial law, and some of the things are sad to hear. Imagine, those soldiers were quite happy because they can now quite easily search for what they want to find. They can enter any house with or without probably cause, and search it. With or without reason. I just hate to see the country go down this road.
Of course the ARMM is like a different country. After all, the Republic of the Philippines extended Autonomy to them, so why should they not be like a separate country?
Hello Bob, if you’re not overly excited, then it’s good.
But I can understand if the soldiers would be happy if they could dispense their jobs without the burden of respecting civil liberties. These are extra-ordinary times, requiring extra-legal measures. The massacre is unprecedented and has all the design of lawlessness, sp I don’t understand how they would respect search/arrest warrants. More soldiers perhaps?
It’s bad enough for the soldiers to be assigned there considering ARMM is generally belligerent to them or anything outsiders. Imagine also the burden of going before an RTC judge and request for search/arrest warrants?
Autonomy does not divest the Phil its sovereignty over those regions. These regions only enjoy self-governance over administrative organizations, creation of sources of revenues, etc etc but they were never give the right even to pretend that they are independent from the Phil. Therefor, ARMM cannot behave like a separate country from the Phil even if it indicates that they thumb their noses to the Phil govt.
Today when my wife called me from our home in Las Vegas where she was watching the news on TFC and explained that they declared martial law it seemed strange to me why this would happen.
I asked her again and again “wait, that means COMPLETE militaristic control of the entire region, right?”
It seems completely overkill for me, a Canadian guy lucky enough to live in the United States to have to disengage the courts/justice system/government over such a terrible crime as the murder of 57 civilians.
I called my wife back and asked her again if GMA had anything to do with the Ampatuan group responsible for the crimes and she said yes, she does.
So perhaps there is a deeper level of corruption happening here. Or maybe having a private army with the arsenal they dug up, comparable to the actual Philippine army itself caused some people to panic.
I would sure hate to see if GMA was hiding things before the proper courts could find and put on trial those responsible.
My wife and I are considering moving to Davao City next year permanently. Let’s hope this brings peace to the region once and for all. It is about time for that.
Hi Steven – Just to be clear, the Martial Law does not cover the entire region of Mindanao, but only one province, Maguindanao Province. I would say, Steve, that I pretty much agree with your assessment of things, though. However, I doubt that this one incident could bring peace to Mindanao – really this is a side issue that has little or nothing to do with the peace process anyway.
A side note…
My wife and I have been married nearly five years. I always said to her that there are only a few things that prevent a country such as the Philippines from being a real world economic power, and corruption and fear is one of them.
Let me know if you would agree/disagree with me from the perspective of someone who lives there.
If American companies look to east Asian countries to put new business, they tend to look at places with peace. It is such a shame that the turmoil in the southern Philippines and deals like the ZTE scandal take place because it makes UK/American/Canadian (basically western) companies afraid to do business there.
My wife remembers living with martial law imposed in Davao. She was only twelve years old, but it was the scariest thing she can remember living through.
I don’t think that this martial law is anything close the nation wide declaration 37 years ago. I think that Philippino’s are much better informed now than back then. 37 years ago there were no SMS/blogs/internet. Now people can read a western perspective of what is happening.
I hope that we have preventative people power in 2009/2010
Hi Steve – I would tend to agree with you, although I think it’s a lot more complex than that simple statement, though.
BTW, martial law has never been “imposed in Davao” – It was imposed on the entire country, including Davao, but never on Davao alone. Just want to make sure that nobody misunderstands that.
Hi bob,
Although Philippine suffered from dictatorship when the Martial law was implemented and I am not happy with it, I’d say, this time it is completely different, It is about time that the martial law must be imposed in maguindanao, with the magnitude of weapons recovered, the innocent people who got killed and with the long history of family clan with private armies or harboring armed groups, lifting civil liberties is the best way to dismantle armed groups or private armies, there are many loopholes with the Philippine constitution and many ways to get around the law to keep a private armies.
I don’t think the martial law will reach to point where it will be nationwide.
If martial law is the only solution to dismantle those group and to restore peace and order in that region, then why not?
Hi dans – I wish the country the best of luck with the imposition of martial law. I personally think it is a bad mistake, but I certainly don’t get a vote on the issue. I guess that if martial law is necessary to arrest some criminals, that would indicate that the Philippines does not have a mature enough justice system to handle criminals without martial law. For me, that is a sad fact.
bob,
the way I see it is this, Maguindanao is controlled by powerful family clans of course with the help of their private armies or armed criminal group, even the judges and local police are scared of them, the problem is not the justice system, the problem mainly is how the local police or the judge do their work without having to think about the safety of their lives or the lives of their family? the only way to stop them or dismantle their armies is with the intervention of the military and the military cannot do their job quickly if the civil liberties is still in effect.
As i recall, several days ago, the local police and military are having a hard time to get a search warrant for the ampatuans and that is because they invoked their “civil rights”, can you imagine what would happen if the martial law is not imposed and there’s a huge cache of weapon in the ampatuan’s residence?
we also don’t know how many more of ampatuan armed sympathizer out there ready to attack anytime.
Hi dans – The PNP obtained a search warrant on Thursday last week, and searched the Ampatuan mansions the same day. That is a day and a half before martial law was imposed. So, I don’t see how you can say that they were unable to obtain warrants from local courts.
Also, do you really think that Maguindanao is the only Philippine Province that is controlled by a powerful family clan? I am quite sure that you don’t believe that.
hi bob,
I said “police are having a hard time” I didn’t say they didn’t get at all, beside, the search warrant is limited to a certain areas only, it took them several days after the massacre to obtain a warrant.
I know many places in the philippines are controlled by family clans, heck even the entire philippines are controlled by the few powerful families however, it is not the same as with the maguindanao, killing more than 50 innocent people and many of the people are scared of the ampatuans even before the massacre.
I bet the family of the victims are all favored the martial law, as they knew without it, they get less or no justice at all considering the massive power of the suspects and how the ampatuan’s controlled the entire place.
most of the time, the people who are not the victim would against it, but people who have first hand experience and knows very well the situations or the family involved would favor anything including the martial law just to get the justice they all deserve.
Hi dans – As I said, I have no vote on this. I simply believe that the wrong move was made. I believe, though, that we can have different opinions on this and neither of us is fully right or wrong.
The cynic in me says this is all a power play by the Arroyo administration. The Ampatuan clan is her political ally…more so than anyone else. They delivered the last election to her. By doing something so henious and vicious, the gave her the pretext to declare Martial Law. As soon as another event happens somewhere in the country, it will be extended there, Ad infinitum, and presto – she no longer has to worry about being out of a job. In return, she is going to charge the Ampatuans with Rebellion, the basis of which will not hold up in court because it doesn’t meet the criteria. Then case dismissed – along with all the other charges (murder, attempted murder, etc.) that were all folded into the Rebellion case
I have had similar thoughts, Miguk, although I am the first to say that it is quite cynical.
Cynical? Yes. Farfetched? Not really. After almost five years here coupled with the history of this country’s endless political machinations nothing surprises me any longer or is beyond the pale here.
I feel it is indeed far fetched. Not much would surprise me in politics here. But, for a prominent family to kill around 60 people in order to propel a political ploy is pretty far fetched, IMHO. I’m pretty close to this situation… Andal Ampatuan Sr. owns the house directly across the street from me, and I have also spent significant time in Maguindanao and elsewhere in the ARMM. I just don’t think this was a ploy. I hope it wasn’t.
Mass murder aside, this is as modern, 21st century country dammit, not some fuedual, medieval fiefdom. When are the people here going to finally say enough is enough and demand the responsive, clean government that is there right!
No doubt on that, Miguk. You’ll get no argument out of me!