Political violence is unfortunately nothing new in the Philippines. However, the sheer savagery of the massacre of at least 46 people in the southern island of Mindanao has sent shock waves throughout the country.
It is widely believed the slayings were part of a feud between two rival clans. The slaughter was probably triggered by the decision by one leading clan member to challenge the local power of the other by running for the local governorship in next May’s elections. Indeed the convoy of cars that was ambushed carried the challenger’s wife, as well as lawyers and journalists. She was on her way to file her husband’s nomination papers.
The public outcry has been triggered in part by the fact that until now, clan feuds, known as “rido,” have very rarely targeted women or outsiders. Nor have victims been mutilated, as reportedly happened in this crime. It is a sad commentary that assassinations and violent clan feuds have become such a part of political life that it is only the sheer scale and barbarity of this attack, which has produced such shock and anger among Filipinos.
President Gloria Arroyo has declared a local state of emergency and vowed to bring the killers to justice. Few give her much chance of succeeding. Both the clans involved are government supporters. The police are weak and beholden to the clan chiefs, who also have sizable private armies, allegedly to protect against insurgents, whose decades-long rebellion has claimed some 120,000 lives.
Yet this terrible deed highlights the deadly side of a deeply corrupt, nepotistic ruling elite which continues to stifle the country’s economic and social growth. The profound hopes for change after the ousting of dictator Ferdinand Marcos were dashed during the well-meaning but weak presidency of Cory Aquino. The one time that voters backed a candidate from outside the dominant elite, their choice, former TV star Joseph Estrada, proved to be debauched and corrupt and was driven from office.
The harsh truth is that unless the ruling elite with its jealously protected local power bases is prepared to reform itself, the Philippines is heading for more violence and anarchy, of which the disgusting Mindanao slaughter may very well be a terrible harbinger. In the subsequent chaos, everyone will lose.
There are those who argue that the elite will no more loosen its grip than turkeys will vote for Thanksgiving. Is Arroyo really brave and indeed strong enough to make the first move and have the Mindanao massacre properly investigated and the perpetrators caught, tried and punished? Like every other Filipino politician she won office pledging to battle corruption. But she has done little since she entered the Malacañang Palace and was even accused to trying to influence her own result. Can she find enough fellow members of the elite who share a vision of a prosperous and dynamic Philippines based on the rule of law who will back her? Without change, the entire country faces the rule of the gun. Mindanao is where change for good must begin.
