Since election violence in the Philippines began, approximately 57 people have been killed. At least 22 of these dead were kidnapped lawyers, journalists, and relatives of local politicians. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in the two Southern provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. Both are located on the war torn island of Mindanao, a place that is a frequent topic of this blog. Filipino troops have found 46 bodies in a pit in Maguindanao Province alone.
Unlike most violence in the region, this is not believed to have been caused by separatist groups, but instead by rival clans which have been empowered by the government to aid in the fight against separatists groups. Kidnappings, murders, and intimidation during elections is a hallmark of Filipino election cycles in many areas of the country. According to the NY Times, “violence has become a fixture of elections here; at least 126 died in the 2007 elections and 189 in 2004.”
Many in the opposition blame the clan closest to President Arroyo, the Ampatuans, for most of the deaths. The governor of Maguindanao, Andal Ampatuan, is of the same faction. Some in the Filipino media have called on Arroyo to disarm all of these “political warlords”. That is unlikely to happen nationwide, as it appears she might not have the clout on the ground, which is why she is sending in the military to Maguindanao. National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) have made a statement which goes into the depth of corruption:
And, if true that a local government official and a police officer are involved, then it says a lot about how far the government has gone to eradicate the warlord politics that continues to reign over many of our provinces, very often the poorest and most underdeveloped
Earlier in the year, several apposition politicians stated their belief that President Arroyo would engineer a national crisis to justifying the declaration of martial law, in order to prevent being term-limited out of office. But, there is no evidence that such a conspiracy is taking place.
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