Memories at work

Published : Jan 01, 2010 00:00 IST

in Singapore

THE proclamation of martial law in the Maguindanao province of the Philippines has brought President Gloria Macapagal Arroyos real political intentions into sharp focus. Critics tend to see the move as a potential prelude to possible political engineering by her to prolong her stay at the helm. Her current tenure as the executive President has frequently been punctuated by questions about the legitimacy of her ascent to that office.

The latest promulgation specific to Maguindanao and effective from December 4 was formally announced a day later. Despite not being a nationwide martial law, this move has already set off a countrywide political controversy. This is by no means a surprise on two counts. First, Gloria Arroyo suffers from a huge trust deficit among some influential sections despite her noticeable success in navigating the countrys macro-level economy through some turbulent periods. The second and no less important factor at work is the still-bitter collective national memory of the bygone martial law throughout the Philippines during the long authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos. For the nearly 90 million Filipinos, martial law, even if confined to a pocket or two in the country, is only a fig leaf for arbitrary governance.

Maguindanao is an integral part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This Muslim-dominant region of the majority-Christian Philippines has in recent years been an acute administrative and political concern for successive governments in Manila. A number of factors account for this, the most conspicuous one being the disaffection of the minority Muslims due to their general perception of being neglected in the larger scheme of national affairs. More importantly, some extremist Islamist groups have been seeking, through militant and terrorist means, a fair deal for this minority. A complicating issue is the often-collateral but sometimes-central violence by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the name of an Islamic cause in a non-Muslim country. Regional intelligence agencies suspect links between the ASG and Al Qaeda.

In a sense, Gloria Arroyos latest martial-law move has little to do with these broader issues of popular disaffection in the ARMM political belt. She has simply responded to what is being officially described as a potential rebellion in the Maguindanao province against the Filipino state as such. However, critics in the Philippine Congress have been quick to argue that her policy of patronising certain groups in that province had in fact fomented a situation of lawlessness. And now she is only seeking to exploit this according to her alleged political design of extending her tenure at the national helm beyond the stipulated time for the next presidential election in 2010, her opponents argue. As this is written, her critics have not managed or not yet had the time to launch a concerted campaign against her at the national level.

While such issues have clouded the circumstances of the latest martial law, the measure itself is in response to a gruesome execution of 57 people, including nearly 30 journalists, in Maguindanao on November 23. At one level, the grisly crime did expose the extent of lawlessness in that province, especially as the prime suspects belonged to the ruling clan there. A relevant question, though, is whether the normally required security-related responses to such crimes should be raised to the imperative of martial law itself.

The Gloria Arroyo administration has chosen to project the imposition of martial law more as a remedy for a gathering rebellion against the state and less as an answer to a horrific crime.

On the basis of the available facts as presented by the authorities, the crime itself was laced with political overtones, albeit of a purely local kind. A convoy of 57 people was attacked by an armed group suspected to have been commissioned by the ruling Ampatuan clan. The convoy included the relatives of a political rival of a high-ranking leader of this clan. They were said to be travelling, accompanied by newspersons-on-duty, for the political purpose of filing nomination papers for a future election of direct interest to this clan leader, Andal Ampatuan Jr.

Unsurprisingly, the crime attracted considerable international attention. Gloria Arroyo was believed to have been deeply embarrassed by this turn of events, especially as speculation gained currency about the extent of political links between the Ampatuan clan and her administration. Her first administrative reaction to the crime was the declaration of localised emergency in Maguindanao as also the Sultan Kudarat province besides Cotabato city. All these three areas form part of the ARMM umbrella-entity. Some time later, the authorities announced the surrender of Andal Ampatuan Jr, and this was projected as a breakthrough in the investigation.

Even as the international interest remained unabated after this surrender, the Filipino military and police forces intensified their operations focussed on the entire network of the clan, whose patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr, was still the Governor of the Maguindanao province. Soon after the imposition of martial law, he was detained along with another of his sons, Zaldy Ampatuan, who was also the ARMM Governor. Several other arrests followed under this extraordinary measure, which, at the time of writing, was not yet approved or ratified by the Philippine Congress.

Feeling the political heat of inevitable comparisons with the nationwide martial law of the Marcos era, the Gloria Arroyo administration emphasised that the Ampatuan clan had over time gathered arms and ammunition sufficient to equip two professional military battalions. It was a rebellion in the offing, said Justice Secretary Agnes Devenadera in Manila on December 5. Furthermore, the administration sought to emphasise that human rights safeguards would apply in the province under martial law, unlike during the Marcos era.

In the Philippine political discourse, the violence and other forms of unrest in the Mindanao region are often bracketed with the altogether different communist political movement in that country.

It was in July this year that Gloria Arroyo, delivering the annual state of the nation address, said: There is now a good prospect for peace talks with both the Communist Party of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with whom we are now on ceasefire.... We inherited an age-old conflict in Mindanao, exacerbated by a politically popular but nearsighted policy of massive retaliation [from the national authorities]. This only provoked the other side to continue the war.... There is nothing more that I would wish for than peace in Mindanao. It will be a blessing for all its people. It will show the other religiously divided communities that there can be common ground on which to live together in peace, harmony and cooperation that respects each others religious beliefs.

On the accusations about her game plans of constitutional manipulation to stay on in power beyond the stipulated period in 2010, she had this to say in July this year: [Todays] noisiest critics of constitutional reform tirelessly and shamelessly attempted Cha-Cha [Charter-Change] when they thought they could take advantage of a shift in the form of government. Now that they feel they cannot benefit from it, they oppose it.... As the seeds of fundamental political reform are planted [now], let us address the highest exercise of democracy voting!

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