The National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao believes there is no one else to blame but the reactionary Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her fascist apparatus, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), for the monstrosity recently brandished by the notorious political warlords in Maguindanao, the Ampatuan clan.
The brutal massacre to date of 57 individuals including local politicians and their relatives, journalists, lawyers, drivers, and ordinary travelers in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao last Monday, November 23 is highly condemnable. The people are seething with rage for this senseless killing, a killing without compunction.
The victims were on a convoy to Shariff Aguak town for the filing of certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governorship in behalf of Datu Esmael Mangudadatu, current vice mayor of Buluan town. But they were accosted by armed men comprising of the PNP, Army and civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) led by Shariff Aguak Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.
Mostly made up of women, they were all killed and buried in separate mass graves dug up by heavy equipment owned by the provincial government under Governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr.
By all indications, the massacre bears the markings of another AFP and PNP atrocity against civilians as they have been clearly serving as part of the private and mercenary army of the Ampatuan hooligans in the bogus Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The 6th infantry division of the Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP is involved in the barbarity of the Ampatuans against civilians. This recent carnage in Maguindanao province adds to the bloody record of human rights violations perpetrated by the Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP. It is an indictment of the US-Arroyo regime’s direct sponsorship of election-related violence, extrajudicial and political killings since assuming power in 2001.
Mrs. Arroyo and all the candidates under her administration were beneficiaries of the Ampatuan’s fraudulently produced votes in its strongholds in the 2004 GRP elections. The Ampatuans also serve as local pawns of the US-Arroyo regime’s counter-revolutionary campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Like the previous GRP presidents, Arroyo is a coddler of electoral cheats and criminal warlords to serve her political and economic interests.
The NDF-Southern Mindanao slams the US-Arroyo regime for its double standard of reactionary justice. The cordial meeting of GRP presidential adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza with the Ampatuans underscores the real stand of Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when it comes to her lackeys and political allies. The immediate on-site visit of GRP Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, PNP Chief Jesus Versoza, and AFP generals only underscore their frantic intention to clean up evidence against the GMA-backed Ampatuans and save the regime from the people’s wrath.
The NDF-Southern Mindanao is one with all freedom and peace-loving people in the country and around the world in demanding justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre. It demands the Ampatuans, the GRP and the AFP-PNP to pay for this gruesome crime.
The impunity with which Mrs. Arroyo rules through political allies like the Ampatuans makes it incumbent and urgent upon the Filipino people to oust Mrs. Arroyo and not wait until she voluntarily steps down in 2010.
Mrs. Arroyo’s shameless dalliance with the Ampatuan clan and other political warlords, and with corrupt and vicious officials of the AFP/PNP, including fascist bureaucrats like Eduardo Ermita and Norberto Gonzales must end, now!
For reference:
Rubi del Mundo
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Southern Mindanao
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