NOTEBOOK: Maguindanao massacre and the ‘new’ LCP

NOTEBOOK: Maguindanao massacre and the ‘new’ LCP

Following is the text of the brief message I read at the Protest Vigil held Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day at the Trinity St. Paul church.

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The Community Alliance for Social Justice is in solidarity with the human rights groups in Canada, the Philippines and other countries, various organizations of different political persuasions, the religious, the journalists and lawyers groups and all freedom-loving peoples of the world, in condemning the Maguindanao massacre of 57 Filipinos on Nov. 23, 2009.

We live in a global social environment of poverty, hunger, war and torture. But still the Maguindanao massacre has shocked the world for its brutality and brazenness. The whole world was shocked by the violence, the rape and mutilation of some of the victims, the total disregard for human life, the impunity and the apparent confidence of the perpetrators that they would not be punished for their dastardly crimes.

The only apparent underlying motive of the perpetrators of the massacre is to preserve their power in the province of Maguindanao which they have ruled with their private armies who were armed and legitimized by the ruling cabal in the national government.

This is the first time in the three terms of the outgoing governor that his political clan was challenged in an election. And their only answer to this challenge was violence against their political opponents. And this violence claimed 57 human lives, including relatives of their opponent, 31 journalists and media workers, two lawyers, women and passersby.

It turned out that the prime suspects of this massacre delivered massive political votes to the present occupant of the Presidential Palace, votes that were widely questioned to be fraudulent. Votes that contributed in no small way to the election of the President in 2004 and his senators in 2007.

No wonder then that the President was hesitant in ordering the arrest of the prime suspect despite the statement of the witnesses and survivors of the massacre. No wonder that one of her spokespersons said that she would still be friends with the prime suspect’s political clan.

We should be aware that the present regime has presided over the political killing of about a thousand of her critics, activists, labor leaders, religious leaders, students, farmers, journalists, lawyers, political leaders. No regime in recent memory in the country has ever come close to this level of impunity. No regime has ever brought the country to such low depths of human rights abuses.

Now that martial law has been declared in Maguindanao after arms and ammunition indicating these could have been provided by the military, and election paraphernalia used in previous elections, were discovered in areas close to the mansions of the Ampatuans, the plot has obviously thickened. Political observers, even the Senate Minority Leader in the Philippine Congress, have said that martial law could be used to tamper the evidence of the crime and evidence of fraudulent elections.

All these point to the root cause of this violence and the future violence that is certain to come in relation to the May elections of 2010. The root cause is the preservation, at all cost, of the political power that they have wielded and that allowed them to amass mind-boggling wealth.

All this at the expense of the poor, hungry and powerless millions of Filipinos, including some of us here overseas, some 8 million of what they call OFWs, Overseas Filipino Workers.

It is heartwarming that you who have come here, join us in solidarity. Canadians and Filipinos are one in sympathy to the victims of this massacre and one in the struggle to eliminate the root causes of this violence anywhere in the world.

When the perpetrators are brought to justice and when their patrons in the Presidential Palace are made to answer for their coddling of these murderers, only then can the souls of the victims of the Maguindanao massacre rest in peace.

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I read the transcript of the grandiose announcement cum press conference conducted by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last Dec. 12 at Kababayan Community Centre.

I was told tears of joy flowed when some of the planned changes were mentioned. Some of the community leaders, not a few of whom are members or ardent supporters of the Conservative Party, competed fiercely against each other in praising Kenney for all the work he’s done for caregivers.

Kenney himself was quite embarassed by the superlatives heaped on him. He was described as champion and hero of caregivers and the community with a bleeding heart. He was given an award as Honorary Filipino something and a Pearl of the Orient gift that would flatter anyone receiving them.
Some of those who spoke were so profuse with gratitude they could not hold their tears. Kenney was virtually worshipped like a savior of caregivers.

I don’t know who were in the audience in the press conference but some of them must be unsuspecting spectators wondering what was going on. I would have been deeply moved myself except that I know most of those who spoke have either campaigned for Conservative candidates or are openly supporting their party of which Kenney is a high-profile leader.

At the end of the day, with some piecemeal benefits announced for caregivers, they still have to live-in, have a temporary status and under employer-specific jobs — the three pillars of oppression of the LCP. There’s a long struggle ahead.