By JORGE "Ka Oris" MADLOS
Spokesperson, NDFP – Mindanao
Other versions: Hinggil sa Masaker sa Maguindanao (Pilipino)
The National Democratic Front-Mindanao joins the Filipino people and the international community in condemning in strongest possible terms the cold-blooded mass murder of at least 60 innocent civilians, local politicians, media workers and lawyers in Maguindanao last November 22. We hold the Ampatuan warlords of Maguindanao and their police, military and paramilitary goons responsible for the monstrous massacre.
All revolutionary forces under the NDF-Mindanao sympathize with the families of the victims and join in their bereavement. We join ranks, in particular, with the Filipino media community, as they cry for justice over the killings of at up to 25 of their colleagues.
We hold Gloria Arroyo ultimately culpable for the massacre in Maguindanao. She has coddled the Ampatuan warlords and allowed them to reign in the Maguindanao province in exchange for political favors. The Ampatuan warlords have used the police and military force and other paramilitary groups to perpetuate their rule through sheer armed power. Gloria Arroyo has created a monster that has grown beyond its control.
Amidst public outcry over the massacre in Maguindanao, Arroyo is making it appear that she is distancing herself from the Ampatuan warlords by expelling them from the ruling party. However, the negotiations last Tuesday between Malacanang stooge Jesus Dureza, head of the Presidential Crisis Committee and the Ampatuans, reek of another dirty political deal. This has become obvious with the special treatment accorded to Mayor Datu Husay Ampatuan who has been feebly charged with the massacre.
Arroyo could not simply break her alliance with the Ampatuan warlords. She owes the Ampatuans big time and the Ampatuan warlords know too much of her dirty political secrets. In 2004, in connivance with election officer Virgilio Garcillano (of the infamous “Hello Garci” scandal), the Ampatuans carried out massive election-related fraud and violence to deliver the entire vote of Maguindanao to Arroyo.
The Filipino people clamor for justice and demand the punishment of the masterminds and perpetrators of the Maguindanao Massacre. They demand that the Ampatuan warlords and its criminal hounds pay for the dastardly killings.
The Filipino people, however, are keenly aware that justice and the punishment of the Ampatuan warlords will not be achieved under the criminal and rotten Arroyo regime. It is thus, incumbent upon the NDF-Mindanao to independently carry outs its justice processes in order to ensure that those behind the Maguindanao Massacre, especially the Ampatuan warlord clan, will soon have to face the bar of revolutionary justice.
