Several meetings were held in Malakanyang austensibly to resolve the worsening rift between the warlord clan Ampatuan and the Mangundadatus in Maguindanao prior to the gruesome massacre but those meetings never amounted to anything. These meetings, attended by former Defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro and several high-ranking officials of the administration party, Lakas-KAMPI NUCD, aimed to dissuade [...]

Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr, the patriarch of the Ampatuan warlord clan, is a very close ally of Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ampatuan’s role in the 2004 Hello Garci operation was substantial. Administration party candidates got ALL the votes of the Maguindanaoans last presidential elections, courtesy of course, by the Ampatuans whom election observers say, intimidated [...]

Forty six cadavers were recovered in a shallow grave in Sharif Aguak in the province of Maguindanao, mostly members of the Mangundadatu family, civilian sympathizers and members of the media. And Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is being blamed for the horrendous massacre. The European Union (EU) called the Maguindanao massacre “barbaric”. Other groups have condemned the [...]

You ask–why is it that this government allows just one political clan to dominate politics of one province? I am referring to the Ampatuans, who continues to lord it over Maguindanao province in Mindanao. It is a known fact that the Ampatuans are close political allies of Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Datu Andal Ampatuan, the clan’s [...]