Dismantle private armies – groups

DAVAO CITY – Lawyers and journalists here echoed long-standing calls for government to move in against political warlords and disband their private armies as relatives of the two feuding clans in Maguindanao have asked protection from local police, at least in Davao City.

Lawyer Carlos Isagani Zarate, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) told an indignation rally in front of the Sangguniang Panlungsod here in late afternoon of November 24, that “Maguindanao killings are a grim commentary of Philippine democracy”.

“The country would continue to suffer from these violence for as long as there are people who believe that they can kill just anyone and getting away with it, without this government doing anything,” he said.

“Government should disband now the private armies and dismantle the control of the political warlords,” he said.

He said that “what happened in Maguindanao is a grave crime against humanity that deserves the harsh and strongest condemnation of the world”.

“Considering their proximity to the present occupants of Malacañang, these warlords, as well as their henchmen, certainly believe that they can get away with cold-blooded mass murder,” he said. “We demand that the Arroyo administration throws the full force of the government to bring the perpetrators, regardless of their affiliations, to the bar of justice.”

He UPLM said that the two lawyers who were killed, Attys. Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo, were their members.

The National Union of People's Lawyers also reminded government “lawyers are essential agents of the administration of justice, and journalists are an institution in a civilized society”. “If lawyers and journalists are brutally murdered while in the performance of their duties, and in broad daylight at that, democracy is dead, plain and simple.”

the NUPL said that Malacañang “must see to it that it knows how to accord justice to the hapless victims, especially in this case where military reports disclosed that the mastermind is its closest political ally in Mindanao, the Ampatuans”.

“All government resources must be brought to bear on the Ampatuans. Otherwise, Malacañang itself would tolerate lawlessness and violence. The private army of the Ampatuans must be instantly disarmed and placed under immediate custody and investigation, and all their firearm licenses immediately revoked.”

It said however, that “Malacañang’s tolerance of warlords greatly contributes to the persistence of the culture of impunity in our society. Since 2001 and prior to the Maguindanao massacre, 22 lawyers and 15 judges in the country have already been murdered and not a soul was put in prison by the authorities, and this has earned the present administration the dubious distinction of having the most number of lawyers and judges that were killed in an administration.”

The Cotabato City-based Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Karapatang Pantao (AMKP), also raised concerned on the declaration of the their city, including Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, the bailiwick provinces of the feuding clans Ampatuans and Mangudadato, respectively.

In a statement, it said that it feared both a new wave of human rights abuses and a likelihood of manipulation of the elections “considering that it is already common knowledge that Maguindanao has the strongest support to the administration”.

“Whether it was politically motivated or not, the mass killings remains to be the sole but biggest heinous crime against life and an affront to democracy, against peace and order and a great security threat to Mindanao and the entire country,” said Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan City, in an open letter yesterday.

While he appealed to the masterminds and the perpetrators of the crime “to surrender immediately to the government authorities because crime does not pay and violence only begets violence and not peace”, he recommend though, that “the full force of the law and the greatest penalties be meted to those suspects if found guilty to stop the senseless killings and violence”.

“We further recommend that those involved in the mass killings should be barred from running to any elective or from holding any appointive positions in government,” he added.

In Davao City, Police Chief Ramon Apolinario said that the relatives of the Ampatuans and the Mangudadato have sought police protection after the incident in Maguindanao although a round made by television crew in their residences showed that these have been abandoned. Neighbors told the TV crew that they have hastily left for Manila.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has earlier ordered a heightened security dragnet for the city where the Ampatuans have especially acquired large properties, and where the Mangudadatos have also established residences.

Police and units of the anti-terror military unit, Task Force Davao, have deployed personnel outside and inside the college and grade school campuses of the Ateneo de Davao University.

The Task Force Davao checkpoint in the southern approach to the city also tightened its checks of vehicles.