CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—As the hearing of the multiple murder case against Andal Ampatuan Jr. begins next week, calls for reform of the Security Sector, including the justice system, begins to snowball in Mindanao.
Ampatuan Jr. has been charged with multiple murder after he allegedly led hundreds of his men in stopping a convoy carrying supporters of political rival and journalists on November 23, 2009.
The victims were systematically murdered and buried in shallow pits or dumped in grasslands just near the national highway in Maguindanao province, where Amapatuan Jr.'s father and namesake was governor. The dead included pregnant women and about 30 journalists.
Following the massacre, the President declared Martial Law in Maguindanao and lifted it after 8-days. Thousands of high-powered firearms and ammunitions were recovered buried in the Ampatuans’ land bearing markings that the cache came from the government arsenal.
Questions such as who supplied the firearms to the Ampatuans remain unanswered, prompting a lawmaker from Mindanao to call for the immediate reform of the security sector, which includes the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and the justice system.
According to AMIN Rep. Ariel C. Hernandez, security sector reform has now become an imperative in light of the recent events in Maguindanao, which prompted the declaration of Martial Law in the province on December 4, 2009.
The 8-day Martial rule in Maguindanao resulted to the disbandment of the government-created and government-armed Civilian Volunteers Organization (CVOs) and Special CAFGU Active Auxiliary Units (SCAAs), which have been used by powerful clans such as the Ampatuans as their own private armies.
Hernandez suggested that government immediately implement the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) framework in Maguindanao to complement the efforts of the military to disband the CVOs and SCAAs.
“DDR as a framework was first mentioned by government as a part of negotiation with the MILF after the impasse created by the MOA-AD debacle… Obviously, it did not hold any water and it was even thought as an ill-conceived and very weak offer that no respectable revolutionary would dare accept it as it is tantamount to surrender. But in this case, I would argue that rather than completely forget the framework because it failed in its debut, it might be considered as a good framework to complement the objective of disbanding the armed groups (CVO’s and SCAA’s),” he said.
Hernandez stressed that CVOs and SCAAs which were invented by the government to help in its counter-insurgency campaign have become “vulnerable to the interests and agendas of local politicians.”
“Sensing trouble and possible attacks from these government-initiated groups, the national government declared Martial Law to prevent them from doing retaliation after their principals (the Ampatuans) were picked up by government troops for the criminal cases and rebellion charges,” he said.
But the question remains: what should government do with the CVOs and SCAAs now that Martial Law was lifted on December 12, 2009?
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legality of the Martial Law declaration in Maguindanao more than a month ago.
According to Hernandez, the continued inaction of the Supreme Court regarding the whole Martial Law issue and its subsequent lifting by the President prompted many to consider it as “another political exercise that did not bring any breakthrough in the important matters of governance and policy making.”
Because of this, Hernandez urged the Executive Department to immediately implement DDR, starting in Maguindanao, and throughout the whole country because “there are also many warlords holding political positions in government in Luzon and the Visayas.”
Reports from the military and police forces indicate that private armies exist in Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Isabela, Tarlac, Masbate , Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, and Isabela.
Hernandez also urged that Malacanang also create security arrangements to the former CVOs and SCAAs after their disbandment to protect them from reprisals which might be carried out by the enemies of the Ampatuans.
Consonant with the implementation of the DDR, especially in Maguindanao, government must also install mechanisms that will ensure an orderly, clean and honest elections in Maguindanao and in the ARMM.
“All these need a restructuring and reformulation of government policies especially because of the ongoing peace negotiations with the MILF,” Hernandez said. (PR Anak Mindanao)
PHILIP JAMES MONGAYA TREMEDAL
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