Gloria Arroyo's Domestic Anti-Terrorism Efforts Haunted by Past Presidential Policies

Maguindanao’s two influential political clans—the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus—have been locked in a clash in the run-up to gubernatorial elections slated for May 2010. Mr. Andal Ampatuan, Jr., a mayor of Datu Unsay municipality, hopes to succeed his aging father as Maguindanao’s governor. He faces competition from Esmael Mangudadatu, a vice-mayor of the Buluan municipality. 

 

On November 23, Mr. Ampatuan, Jr. and his militiamen allegedly shot, dismembered and buried in mass graves 57 people, including Mr. Mangudadatu’s wife, other relatives, lawyers, journalists, and random motorists who happened to drive past the checkpoint when the convoy was stopped. The ill-fated delegation was on its way to the provincial capital to file Mr. Mangudadatu’s candidacy papers. 

 

Interestingly, Mr. Mangudadatu dispatched his female relatives to accomplish the task after he himself received threats on his life. However, the local vendetta traditions that consider attacks on women, children and the elderly as being disgraceful to men have not stopped Mr. Ampatuan.                    

 

In the aftermath of the massacre, President Arroyo’s political record and her handling of this sensitive case have drawn scathing criticism in the Philippines. The Ampatuans, who are members of Ms. Arroyo’s party, Lakas-KAMPI Christian Muslim Democrats, have been her staunch political allies and reportedly helped her carry Maguindanao with a wide margin in the controversial 2004 presidential election, in addition to securing seats for her proponents in the 2007 senatorial ballot. Detractors say that Ms. Arroyo’s cozy relationship with the Ampatuan dynasty has ultimately imbued them with a sense of impunity. 

 

To deflect the criticism, Ms. Arroyo has expelled Mr. Ampatuan, Jr. (who turned himself in) from the party and left open the possibility of his suspension from the public post. She drew additional criticism for dragging her feet over his suspension, while promptly suspending lower-level government employees who are also suspects in the case. 

 

Ms. Arroyo also announced martial law in the province, citing the evidence of a rebellion in-the-works. Government reports indicate that the Ampatuans’ henchmen plan an armed uprising in the event their bosses are taken into custody, and that local judges feel intimidated to the point that they are reluctant to issue search and arrest warrants for suspects in the murder case.        

 

While Ms. Arroyo’s indiscriminate judgment is evident from her choice of the Ampatuans as her political allies, her policies alone did not contribute to the heinous crime in Maguindanao. A broader overview of the Ampatuan family’s rise to power over the last two decades reveals the absence of a far-sighted approach by the central government in Manila to managing the provincial strongmen.

 

Back in the 1980s, Mr. Andal Ampatuan, Sr. presciently sided with the Philippine army in the fight against Muslim secessionists in the south. In the process, he amassed large amounts of ammunition—a fact, which the government in Manila largely ignored.  The militia controlled by Mr. Ampatuan, Jr. reportedly used those same weapons in the November 23 slaughter. Furthermore, given Maguindanao’s location in the epicenter of Manila's anti-separatist operations, the Philipine Army assigned to Governor Ampatuan two units of special auxiliary troops called Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs). 

 

CAFGUs have been criticized on many instances for abusing human rights in various parts of Maguindanao. On November 23, they were lined up along the road to provincial capital, Shariff Aguak, ostensibly to provide security for candidates traveling to submit their paperwork for the race. Instead, witnesses allege, the CAFGU forces looked on and some even participated in the mass murder that day.   

 

Mr. Ampatuan, Sr.’s unwavering support of territorial integrity of the Philippines has endeared him to a string of Filipino presidents from Ferdinand Marcos to Joseph Estrada to Ms. Arroyo, who endorsed his candidacy against his local rivals. In 2001, Mr. Ampatuan Sr.’s opponent, Zacaria Candao, complained that the government troops blocked access to some of the precincts for Mr. Candao’s poll watchers. Mr. Candao was a supporter of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and served as Maguindanao’s governor at the time.

 

Today, Ms. Arroyo is left to deal with the consequences of 20+ years of policies (her own and those of her predecessors) that sought to prop up the ‘bad guys’ just because they were loyal to the central government. The massacre in Maguindanao highlights a bigger challenge that many governments may face in the post-9/11 world, as they struggle to bring to heel the terrorists, separatists and criminal gangs endangering the national unity and disrupting public order. The challenge is the need to balance anti-terrorist policies with adherence to the constitution and good governance practices. While it is easy to be swayed in the other direction in an attempt to preserve the immediate national interests, the tragic events in Maguindanao serve as a stark reminder to responsible politicians worldwide that they should not condone lawlessness and violence in a pursuit of short-term political benefits.