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*Francisco J. Lara Jr. is Research Associate at the LSE Crisis States Research Center, London, U.K.
An unintended consequence of the Maguindanao massacre was to draw attention to a huge underground economy that undergirds the political authority and legitimacy of Mindanao’s political entrepreneurs. The revelation by US authorities over the palpable impact of “narcopolitics’ in the May 10 2010 elections, and the recent busting of small-scale drug labs in Metro-Manila, Cotabato City, and in several towns of Lanao del Sur underscore this reality, alongside the discovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition controlled by violent clans.
Yet to confine the dynamics of power at the subnational and national level neglects a new source of politico-economic power which explains the resilience of warlord clans – their links to supra-national criminal networks engaged in the lucrative arms and drug trade in Southeast Asia, and their increased access to considerable amounts of foreign aid and reconstruction assistance in conflict-affected areas. These have enabled warlords to embellish their legitimacy and tap into new sources of wealth and power that corrodes and transcends the nation-state.
Click link to download full article: Rust never sleeps – Francisco J. Lara Jr.
A policy research and advocacy group, La Liga organized the forum “Automating Credibility and Trust: A Forum on the 2010 Automated Elections” at the Quezon City Sports Club on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 to issue the call for clean, honest, orderly and peaceful conduct of the May 10, 2010 elections.
The La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) underscored the need for citizens’ response to ensure the conduct of a clean and credible election that will put an end to the crisis of governance and restore the Filipino people’s faith in elections once more.
Highlights of the Forum
La Liga chairman Edicio dela Torre said the restoration of democracy after the 1986 EDSA People Power under former President Corazon C. Aquino also saw the restoration of election as the peaceful and legitimate means to change government leaders.
With ZTE-NBN scandal whistleblower Eng’r Jun Lozada, Ret. Gen. Francisco Gudani, former COMELEC Commissioner Atty. Mehol Sadain who is now with Halalang Marangal and Ms. Rebecca Malay of the Consortium on Electoral Reform, the forum aims to raise awareness and form a consensus among citizens on the need to be more vigilant on the manner by which the conduct of the first computerized elections is being handled
The forum also aims to put to task the government, the COMELEC and the various political parties to guarantee that the process and result of the elections will be credible.
During the forum, participants said “yes” to credible elections and “no” to automated cheating by shading the “egg-shaped” figure, depicting how voters should cast their vote for their favored candidates in the national and local elections.
Dela Torre said despite several coup attempts, and many problems of governance, at least there were two relatively peaceful and legitimate hand-over of power after Aquino – from Cory to Fidel V. Ramos in 1992 and from FVR to Joseph Ejercito Estrada in 1998.
“Whatever the merits of the case against Erap the problem is that his removal and ascendancy of Gloria Macapal Arroyo to power was through something extra-constitutional, hence, unstable and dependent on military support,” he said.
According to dela Torre, the 2004 elections could have re-established elections as the democratic, legitimate, and credible basis for determining who should be the country’s leaders, but the “Hello Garci” and the controversies around the elections has led to more instability, which was not improved by the 2007 elections, and the Maguindanao manipulated returns.
“2010 elections is a chance to restore credibility not just to the results but to the process,” he said.
He stressed that it is of crucial importance that elections are not only clean but perceived to be clean.
Poll automation, as a solution to the problem of cheating, he said, is weak.
“The questions about the technicalities and the logistical challenges are not the only reason for public skepticism. There is the deeper question about the credibility of the Comelec itself, which automation does not solve,” he said.
In fact, dela Torre added that poll automation is even being suspected to be a more sophisticated way for the poll body to manipulate the elections.
De la Torre said it is important for the COMELEC, as well as all the stakeholders in the coming election need to identify the key elements that have to be present, so that the elections will be clean and credible. “Otherwise, we will have a very expensive exercise that will not bring about political stability and legitimacy,” he said. (La Liga Policy Institute)
Introduction
“Massacre, Martial Law, Maguindanao…What’s Next?” was a forum organized by the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) last December 9, 2009 at the Quezon City Sports Club.
The forum was organized in response to the Maguindanao massacre and subsequent declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao. It gathered different perspectives on the recent political developments in order to craft a better reading on the situation and subsequently put forward suggestions on possible citizen’s responses.
The main speaker of the forum was Mr. Francisco “Pancho” Lara, Jr., Research Associate at the Crisis States Research Center, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics and a fellow of La Liga.
The Panel from Mindanao included Ms. Amina Rasul of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, Rep. Ariel Hernandez from AMIN Partylist and Mr. Joe Torres, a journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Remate. Mr. Edicio Dela Torre, Chairperson of La Liga provided the synthesis and facilitated the open forum.
Bulk of the attendees came from media networks and organizations. NGOs, citizens organizations and individuals such as the ELF, IPER, KME, PRRM, Focus on the Global South-Philippines, WomanHealth, Amnesty International, Fr. Robert Reyes, Djalia Hataman, Marietta Goco and Mentong Laurel also attended. The Political Officer of the British Embassy was also present. The event was also widely covered by media.
Highlights of the Forum
The forum started with a solemn ritual in memory of the slain victims of the Maguindanao massacre. Jess Santiago, activist, poem and songwriter since the Martial Law years of Marcos, performed “Pitong Libo Pulo” while participants lighted candles and tied black arm bands.
Mr. Lara presented his papers focusing on the “Collusion and Collision in Muslim Mindanao”. He traced the alliance of GMA and the Ampatuans dating back to the electoral black ops of 2004 and 2007. He pointed out that the government actually allowed the illegal operations of the Ampatuans and even supplied the advanced weapons as a result of their alliance. He said that the government actually knew of the brewing tension between the feuding clans since last year but chose to side with the Ampatuans and told the Mangudadatus to back-off. The result – 57 dead. He said that Martial law was imposed precisely to quell any attempt by the Ampatuans to expose GMA’s poll fraud.
The panel of reactors focused on various issues. Amina Rasul traced the rich history of Muslim Mindanao and how because of the birth of warlordism, natural resources were wasted, illiteracy became prevalent, poverty and hunger rose to inhuman levels. She pointed out that it worked to the warlords advantage if the constituents remained, illiterate, poor and disempowered, hence, the lack of programs to address these.
Cong. Ariel Hernandez explained the continued rise of private armies of the warlords. He said that the government, because of its ineffective and inept understanding of the complexities of the peace process, had actually given its consent in the formation of the CVOs and CAFGUs as anti-insurgency forces.
Joe Torres recounted how more media could have possibly been killed had it not been for Pacuiao’s victory parade in Gen. Santos. He said that the massacre only highlighted the dire conditions of local media men and women, who are living in subsistence just to deliver the news. He said that because of these conditions, local media persons are forced to cover even obviously disastrous situations, not just for news but more importantly to earn a living.
During the open forum, most of the participants were asking the same question, what’s next? and what do we do? Several suggestions were put on the floor including organizing more dialogues and forums, launching creative media events to highlight not just the massacre but also the importance of political events in Maguindanao in relation to the upcoming elections and organizing an online forum where various papers, researches, think-pieces and other resource and reference materials can be posted and shared online. La Liga and PCID agreed to lead this process of setting-up an online resource center that will be available by the last week of December.
