By Sara Fabunan
Manila Standard Today
Manila Standard Today
A non-government agency on Friday asked President Benigno Aquino III to revoke the six-year old Executive Order 546 that allows the use of private armies by government officials.
Amnesty International Philippines director Aurora Parong made the call after prominent politicians in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, represented by 168 elected leaders formerly identified with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, formally joined Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party in a mass oath-taking ceremony on Tuesday in Manila.
“The government must prohibit and disband private armies and paramilitary forces responsible for election-related attacks immediately,” said Parong, who added that President Aquino must fulfill his campaign promise to revoke the order.
On Tuesday, five provincial governors from the ARMM–Mamintal Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur, Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao, Sakur Tan of Sulu, Sadikul Sahali of Tawi-Tawi, and Jum Akbar of Basilan–led those who switched allegiance to the Liberal Party.
They were joined by two vice governors, 93 mayors, 53 board members, and 11 regional assemblymen.
The Amnesty said those officials maintained their own private armies.
In 2006, former President and now Congresswoman Arroyo issued an Executive Order 546 legalizing the deputization by local chief executives of militia to serve as “multiplier force” of the government against the rebels.
Parong said that private armies and state-endorsed paramilitaries continued to operate nationwide.
The use of private militia, she noted, was responsible for several incidents of attacks during elections and other abuses in the country for the past several years.
Amnesty cited as an example the bloody Ampatuan massacre on Nov. 23, 2009, where 57 people, including 32 journalists, were gunned down and dumped in a mass grave on a hillside in the town of Ampatuan.
The victims were reportedly stopped by at least 100 armed men on their way to the Commission on Elections regional office to watch a candidate file his candidacy.
Leaders of the powerful Ampatuan clan have been charged in connection with the killings. The clan’s private army and members of the local police and military were likewise implicated in the murder case.
“President Aquino has to immediately take steps to dismantle private armies, as he promised,” Parong said.
“It is a necessary step to end election violence in the Philippines.”
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