Seems odd to me that no one's posted anything yet. Vester, I don't know virtually nothing about politics in the Philippines. If it's not too much, could you give a native's introduction to the issue?
That comes off as cold for some reason, but that sounds absolutely terrifying. As much as Americans bitch about whatever political entitlement they think they're losing, they forget nobody's being gunned down in the street.
Be glad to give an intro.
The Philippines is a Republic, in structure similar to the United States. Our constitution is similarly based off yours. Geographically, it's divided into three islands: Luzon, the large northern island where I live, Visayas, where the only convenient travel between regions is plane or ferry, and Mindanao.
Mindanao is a bit of a problem.
See, election violence is common in the Philippines, but only in Mindanao does it ever get really bad. Especially in the ARMM (the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao), where mayors and governors get up to serious shenanigans. Think of the Mafia and you get the picture.
Mindanao is essentially a large feudal island where political feuds get extremely bloody, and can turn on the drop of a hat.
The thing is, the two families involved, the Mangadatu and the Ampatuan clans, have been allies for literally decades as far as I know. When Esmael Mangadatu, who is the mayor of Buluan, which is basically a huge shantytown, decided to file his candidacy, he apparently broke a pact his clan had with the Ampatuans. Normally when something like this happens the pact-breaker or his sons are assassinated. This was just wrong. This crossed the traditional feud boundaries, especially since the Ampatuans also killed all witnesses.
The entire clan is being rounded up and their militia disarmed, since the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police, which normally don't present a strong front in Mindanao, moved in.
This is coupled with worries that our current President is willing to do anything to extend her term or at least stay in government, which means that she could try to extend the martial law in Maguindanao to the entire country.
My God. How did I not hear of this? That's . . . just bad. I really don't see why such a thing didn't get reported (or at least to the extent it deserves).
It was all over Yahoo! news, I think.
I feel you man. Things acting like that is uncool.
Thanks Toony.
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Topic: The Maguindanao Massacre (Read 3534 times)