Since I was discussing Maguindanao Province in my last entry I thought that I might just pick up right where I left off and concentrate on the region at large.At the most basic unit of governance is the"Barangay."Named after the ocean going outriggers ("Balangays") with which the Austronesian Peoples,of whom all Filipinos (except for Negritos) are part of.Traditionally Filipinos believe that each pre-Hispanic village consisted of a single outrigger,or"Barangay"and that this is how most of the islands were populated before the coming of Magellan in the 16th Century.
There are smaller units,known as"Sitios"(Sites) as well as another lesser unit in rural areas known as a"Purok" (Zone) but there is no level of governance below the Barangay.Above the Barangay is the Municipality.The Municipality can be either a"Town,"a"City"or a"Chartered City."Each Municipality consists of a collection of Barangays.A Municipality's classification as a Town or City depends upon its generated income and the size of its population.Originally the financial watermark was P20 Million (US460,000) in income generated anually without taking allotments from the national government into consideration.After intense lobbying from the"League of Cities"who feared that their own allotments would lessen if enough towns converted into cities,this watermark was raised to P100 Million (US2.5 Million),a huge sum in Philippine terms.Population requirements were also raised to 150,000 residents),though that is far less of an onus.
For purposes of clarification I must add that contrary to popular belief,not all cities are"Chartered Cities."The term"Chartered City"specifically refers to cities which,by an Act of Congress,have been granted specific,special powers not regularly granted to other cities.I also...hey!wake up!...need to point out that rare cities also contain"Districts."Districts are like"Regions,"they don't play a role in Governance,only in the distribution of services.Likewise,certain cities are granted the status of"Metropolitan Areas,"again relating only to infrastructure,delivery of services.On Mindanao only Cagayan del Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province and Davao City in Davao del Sur Province have been granted"Metropolitan Area"status.Likewise,only Davao City has"Districts"though Pagadian City on the Zamboanga Peninsula seems rto be moving in that direction with city officials sometimes referring to certain areas as"Districts."WAKE UP!!!
Municipalities are grouped together into"Provinces."Depending upon the size of the island a province can encompass an entire island,as is the case with Basilan Island/Basilan Province or a single island can hold dozens of provinces as is the case with Mainland Mindanao.Additionally,a province can be spread out over dozens of islands,as is the case with Sulu Province.As if this isn't confusing enough for the uninitiated,smaller islands are almost always linked administratively to larger islands despite an"Island"serving no purpose in terms of Governance.For example,both Basilan and Sulu Provinces are administratively attached to Mindanao,they ARE provinces of Mindanao.Because"Islands"aren't a cog in Governance the term"Administrative"refers to infrastructural logistics.
Above the Provincial Level is the"Region."Above the Region only stands the"National Government."
Simple thus far,right?Hahahaha.Suuuuuuuure...
As I have said,the lowest level of Governance is the Barangay.Each Barangay has a"Chairman,"or as they are popularly known,"Captain."The Chairman/Captain sits above a"Barangay Council"which has 7"Barangay Councillors,"or as they are more popularly known,"Barangay Kagawads."Each Councillor/Kagawad deals with 1 of 7 areas of Governance:
1) Finances/Treasury
2) Health
3) Education
4) Tourism
5) Development/Infrastructure
6) Peace and Order (local term for"Law and Order"/Security
7) Agriculture
each of these areas have 3 person committees composed of appointed members of the barangay with the respective Councillor/Kagawads serving as the Chairperson of that committee.In addition there is an 8th Councillor/Kagawad who sits as an ex-officio member of the Council by virtue of his or her position as Chairperson of the"Sangguiniang Kabataan,"or"SK" (Youth Council).Aged 15 to 18 this Councillor/Kagawad represents Youth Interests as well as Chairing the Barangay Council's"Sports"committee.
At the Municipal Level there is a"Mayor,"a"Vice Mayor"and then just as at the Barangay Level there is a"Municipal Council"which is formatted exactly like the Barangay Councils.Each Councillow handles a specific area of Governance and chairs a committee mandated for that respective subject.Above the Municipal Level is the Provincial Level.The"Governor"and"Vice Governor"fufill the same roles as the Mayor and Vice Mayor.Likewise the Provincial"Governor"and"Vice Governor"sit above a"Provincial Council"which is formatted exactly like the Barangay and Municipal Councils,each Provincial Councillor tasked with just 1 area of Governance but having an equal vote on provincial issues.
Regionally,except for the nation's 2"Autonomous Regions"(ARMM,or Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao on Mindanao and"CAR,"or Cordilleran Autonomous Region" on Luzon) there is no system of Governance.Regions serve an infrastructural and logistical role in the distribution of services from the National Level.In many ways though it merely serves to create confusing redundancies.I will relegate this entry to a basic explanation of the overall structure and leave the critiques for a later,more in depth entry.
In addition,there is a parallel system of Governance that is itself a redundamcy;Each Municipality has an"ABC,"or"Association of Barangay Chairmen/Captains."All Barangay Chairmen/Captains belong and amongst themselves elect their own"Chairman/Captain."Then,each Municipal ABC Chairman/Captain sits in the"Provincial ABC,"which again elects its own"Chairman"or"Captain."All Provincial ABC Chairmen/Captains sit in a National ABC which itself elects a single"Chairman"or"Captain."The idea is to provide plurality of view of not an actual check or balance but in reality it is an entirely worthless endeavour.
The synchronised National and 0local Elections ("Local"as in Province and Municipality) took place on May,10,2010.The Barangay and SK Elections are set to take place in October of 2010.Regional Elections are set to take place in August of 2011.
On Wednesday March 19th,2010 Bai Mona Ampatuan, the principal of Shariff Aguak National High School in the provincial capitol of Maguindanao,Shariff Aguak had her home hit by 2 grenades thrown by 2 men riding tandem on a motorcycle wounding a 30 year old woman and her 2 kids who just happened to be walking by.Although Ms.Ampatuan IS a member of THE Ampatuan Clan (as in the"Maguindanao Massacre") it is believed that THIS attack is unrelated to that event and is instead due to recent extortion attempts made against public educational institutions in Maguindanao Province.Unfortunately most Filipino Muslims have little respect for secular education and find public institutions fair game since they are of course a product of the Philippine Government.Then their intellectuals bemoan the lack of government services in Muslim Communities.Gee,I wonder why...
On Sunday March 21st, 2010 at 11 AM a jeepney (form of public transportation) pulled into the Philippines Phoenix Petroleum gas station located on National Hiway in Barangay Poblacion,Ampatuan,Maguindanao Province.The attendant noticed after the jeepney had left that it had left behind a cardboard box.Walking over to it he was disturbed by the threatening writing on top of the package in that it threatened to kill the station owner.The young man stupidly-but bravely-pushed the box to the side of the hiway and immediately told his supervisor.The supervisor,the station manager,then called the authorities who discovered that the box contained an IED (Improvised Explosive Device,as in"bomb").
Later that day,just after sunset,the home of the station's owner was hit by at least 10 60MM mortar shells wounding 3 familiy members.Who is this beleagured atation owner you ask?None other than Zacarias Sangki,the OIC (Officer in Charge,meaning Govt.appointed,not elected) Mayor of Ampatuan (the municipality,not the Clan).Mr.Sangki gained his current political position after the Elected Mayor,Andal Ampatuan Sr.,was jailed over the aforementioned"Maguindanao Massacre"which took place on November 23rd,2009.For those unfamiliar with that sordid event Andal Sr.allegedly ordered his son Andal Jr.,the Mayor of another Maguindanowan municipality,Datu Unsay,to murder members of a rival Clan,the Mangudadatus.Unfortunately for Andal Sr.his son was a few arrows short of a quiver and he ALSO ended up killing nearly 3 dozen journalists and a handful of attorneys.The event marks the single worst case of directed violence towards journalists that the world has ever seen.The irony is that had Andal Jr.been intelligent enough to follow daddy's orders there wouldn't have been much more than couple of 3 sentence articles devoted to yet another case of Mindanowan blood letting.The Mangudadatus are no better than the Ampatuans and have just as many gory killings to their credit...just no journalists.
On Janurary 17th,2010,OIC Mayor Sangki had his 20 hectare farm ruined when gunmen burned down all buildings,including 11 houses,along with a crop nearly ready to harvest.The farm,located in Sitio Najib,Barangay Salman,also in Ampatuan is within a stone's throw of the barren field where the"Massacre"took place.Why is Zaraia Sangki so hated?Is it just aggravation that the former Vice Mayor now gets to sit in the hot seat while his former boss sits in stir?Of course not.Sangki almost immediately turned State's Witness against Andal Sr.and nearly 200 other individuals currently charged in the atrocity.Adding insult to injury Sangki,a member of a related Clan,wad ALSO a willing participant in the atrocity.
Only one day after the attack on the Sangki farm,Janurary 18th,2010,Dok Uling Salahuddin,a Barangay Captain in Barangay Kalkul in the municipality of Ampatuan,and a cousin of Zacarias Sangki was shot to death at 6PM by a single gunman.
On Tuesday April 6th,2010,51 year old Mohamadisa"Datu Haris"Sangki,brother of the OIC Mayor of Ampatuan,Zacarias Sangki,was riding his motorcycle past Cotabato City Plaza when 2 young men riding tandem on another motorcycle flagged him down at the corner of Sinsuat and S.K.Pendatun Streets in Barangay Poblacion #5.
Mr. Sangki pulled over and engaged the men in conversation when 1 of them suddenly stabbed him in the chest causing him to fall face down.The second man,later indentified as Kenny Osmena,walked over to the prostrate man and calmly shot him in the back with a 45 caliber pistol,killing him instantly.Both men then got onto their motorcycle and rode off towards the main town market.Though 5PM in the afternoon,and in full view of possibly thousands of people,not one person tried to intervene,or even pursue the gunmen.
On April 13th, 2010,in Sitio Masalay,Barangay Salman in the municipality of Ampatuan in Maguindanao Province,a CVO post (Civilian Volunteer Organisation,1 of 4 entities known collectively as"CAA,"or"Citizens Active Auxiliaries,"the cornerstone of the Government's Counterinsurgency Force Multiplication Programme.The CVO are sublimated to the PNP,or Philippine National Police and cannot bear arms unless their element has specifically been granted that right be the Secreatary of DILG,Department of the Interior and Local Government) was struck by eight M79 grenades without causing a single casualty.The attackers,Ampatuan Clan Paramilitary guerillas,were positioned in a nearby banana grove.Ironically perhaps,Barangay Salman is the same barangay where the"Massacre"took place.Not far away in Barangay Labulabu a 2nd CVO detachment was also attacked by M79 grenades and also managed to come out of it unscathed.Perhaps even more ironically,the Ampatuan Paramilitary is primarily composed of ex-CVO soldiers from that very same post!When President Arroyo first declared a State of Emergency over the Massacre most CVO personnel took to the hills knowing that they had no chance of living a law abiding life after being tarnished by their membership as Ampatuan Municipal (as well as Maguindanao Provincial) CVO.
The Ampatuan Paramilitary has been launching large scale assaults on the town since shortly after the"Massacre"took place.Despite a massive PNP and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) presence vis a vis the dedicated joint element known as"Task Force Alpha"the paramilitary has shelled the town with 60 MM mortars just about every night in March and April of 2010 with the attacks escalating as Election Day,May 10th draws near.It is not only the government that is suffering from the attacks as one can see with the repeated assaults on the Sangki family.Zacarias Sangki isn't even the Sangki to turn on the Ampatuans.The Vice Mayor of Shariff Aguak,the provincial capital of Maguindanao,is Rasul Sangki.In case his name is not familiar to you,he was the chief witness against Andal Ampatuan Jr.I will explore all that in a series of entries on the"Massacre"and all its just as bloody aftermath.It is worth noting here that the perennial enemies of the Ampatuan Clan,the MILF/BIAF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces),have also not been sitting idly by through all this drama heaped atop drama.
On Janurary 12th,2010 the BIAF's 105 Base Command under Kumander Usatadz Ameril Ombra Kato,almost always known simply by the moniker"Kumander Kato,"along with allied MNLF/BMA (Moro National Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Army) the parent organisation from which the MILF/BIAF broke away) guerillas engaged the Ampatuan Paramilitary in a 24 hour firefight in Sitio Balutukan,Barangay Kitapok in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan (a different town than the town of "Ampatuan" proper,also created by Andal Ampatuan Sr.when he sat as Governor of Maguindanao Province,for his family to rule).Several deaths resulted but both sides handled it quietly so no exact number is forthcoming.
On April 15th at the Hillside Resort in Datu Odin Sinsuat,also in Maguindanao Province,the owner of the resort and mayoral candidate for Datu Odin Sinsuat,Motasser Sabal and his brother and running mate for Vice Mayor, Abdulwahab "Abraham "Sabal were engaged in a campaign strategising session with a group of close supporters when a grenade was thrown into the room.A supporter,Kagi Ketong,of that same town was killed but the brothers were unhurt.
On Thursday April 22nd,2010 in Barangay Bako,Shariff Aguak,roughly 100 guerillas from the BIAF's 105th Base Command, which was at that time still under Kumander Kato (more about his being re-deployed in a subsequent entry),crossed the GPH (Govt.of the Philippines)-MILF/BIAF permimeter (the DMZ line) by about 1 kilometer and then managed to cross paths with 2 platoons from the 45IB (Infantry Battalion),which is itself based in Shariff Aguak's Barangay Poblacion.The predictable result was a 2 hour long firefight with no reported casulaties.
On Friday,April 30th, 2010 on the town of Ampatuan's 1st Street,in Purok 1,Barangay Kauran,an IED 20 meters away from National Hiway detonated just as gubneratorial candidate Esmael"Toto"Mangudadatu's convoy was passing en route to a political rally in the town's Barangay Poblacion.Luckily noone was injured or killed in the explosion.
On Saturday,May 8th,2010 OIC Mayor Zacarias Sangki's Phoenix petrol station was once again faced with an IED.This time the device was left by 2 men riding tandem on a motorcycle who rode non-chalantly over to the gas pumps and left it in a plastic bag.This time however the IED detonated but for an unkown reason failed to set off the petrol underneath it.No casualties.
On Election Day,Monday,May 10th,2010 at 1040AM,in Barangay Kapimpilan,North Kabuntalan,in that same province of Maguindanao,Sukarno Paglas was shot to death in the neck and chest,dying just 100 meters from a polling site as he tried to run into Barangay Bagungdang.The firefight that killed him was between the camps of 2 prospective vice Mayors,Bhernie Mamolintao Bagungdang (PMP) and Muslimin Guiama Baliwan (party unknown though initially it was said that it was with the camap of the Lakas-KAMPI-CMD candidate for Vice Mayor,Raul Vidal,a Bisayan).
That same day,May 10th,in Barangay Poblacion in Shariff Aguak,a poll site at Sasez Elementary School was hit by a grenade thrown by 2 men on a motorcycle.
Also on election Day,in the town of Datu Salibo,also in Maguindanao Province,voting was suspended after an RPG (BM2) attack near a PNP station.The road and bridge into the adjacent municipality of Datu Piang were closed down stranding many residents of both towns as fighting was heavy in Datu Piang as well.It began when BIAF snipers from the 105 Base Command,positioned in Barangay Pagatin,began firing on AFP soldiers in Barangay Dapiawan.The AFP in turn positioned snipers with 50 caliber Barrets in 3 positions along the Barangay's main road,and they continued firing into Barangay Pagatin for most of the day.
Also on Election Day,in S.K.Pendatun,another town in Maguindanao Province,50 meters from the poll site in Barangay Lao Lao,three IEDS were disarmed after being discovered throughout the day.The goal of course being to disrupt the elections and keeping people from voting at that site.The last device was found at 247PM.
Meanwhile,at 1145Am that morning in Barangay Datu Saligop,in the municipality of Datu Unsay,also in Maguindanao Province,the Ampatuan Paramilitary clashed with the 39IB shortly after three IEDs detonated in that barangay.As the firefight took place a 4th IED detonated as well with the government claiming no casualties,a point which I will address at the end of all my Election Day wrap up entries.
That evening at the 4th Call to Prayer (Islamic) 2 guerillas from the aforementioned Ampatuan Paramilitary were killed in a firefight with the 45th IB,just outside Barangay Poblacion in Ampatuan.
At 11AM Tuesday, May 25th, 2010,in Barangay Dansalan,in the town of Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao Province,Barangay Captain Datu Norodin Utto and his paramilitary came under attack from the Ampatuan Paramilitary.
Datu Utto's men,numbering roughly 50 gunmen were assaulted by 57MM and 90MM recoiless rifle and 60MM mortar volleys before being approached from different directions by approximately 200 guerillas being personally led by the new leader of the force,Bahnarin Ampatuan,a grandson of Andal Sr.,and like his grandfather and almost 70 other clansmen, under indictment for the massacre.No word on paramilitary casulaties but 2 civlians were killed.
Again on Thursday May 27th,from 7AM to 3PM an 8 hour long firefight took place after mortar volleys.In this last attack the Ampatuan Paramilitary were led by 2 underlings,Kagi Nasser and Kagi Sangatin.The 2,500 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons,i.e."Refugees") that resulted from this clash are camping along the Sultan Buayan to Sultan sa Barougis National Hiway.
On June 2nd,2010,at 9AM,in Barangay Balunan in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat,the 6IB engaged 25 BIAF guerillas in from the 105th Base Command in a 1 hour firefight before the guerillas withdrew into the Liguasan Marsh.The BIAF had been on the National Hiway laying IEDs.AFP snipers manned 50 caliber Barrets and artillery batteries of 105 MM Howitzers pounded the marsh afterwards.It is worth noting that in early May leadership of the 105th Base Command,at least on paper,passed to an underling of Kumander Kato,sub-Kumander Zacaria Goma.Goma is a long time MILF/BIAF vet who is known for a more moderate outlook despite his having worked directly under Kato for nearly 2 decades. "Moderate"in this case is certainly a relative term.As I noted earlier,I will hash that out in a subsequent entry.
On June 8th,2010 in Sultan sa Barongis,in Maguindanao Province,the BIAF's 105th Base Command fighting under sub-Kumander Bedai Mosayden battled with a CVO formed out of a demobilised MNLF (Moror National Liberation Front) Brigade,under Kumander Abu Samin Sampalo,causing 2,500 people to become IDPs.The 33IB was on site but refused to get involved,as always citing its obligations under the GPH-MILF Peace Process.The fighting continued sporadically until Saturday,June 12th when it intensified causing even more IDPs and even spilled over into the municipality of Montawal and threatened to ignite an even wider sub-conflict with Kumander Urao's BIAF element.As of this posting, June 21st,2010,things have calmed down to an even simmer with sporadic clashes taking place and almost all of the IDPs still homeless.
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