A TEXT MESSAGE FROM A friend on Tuesday as the arraignment of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was going on:

“Mon, Ampatuan looks like the devil incarnate.”

I texted back: “Pare, he doesn’t look like the devil incarnate. He is the devil himself if such a being ever exists.”

It’s true the Ampatuan men—from the old man Andal Sr. to his sons—have faces only a grandmother could love (even a mother would have found their looks repulsive); they also have an attitude only President Gloria appreciates because of their closeness to her.

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With few exceptions, Maguindanoans and Maranaws (Muslims of Lanao) have very strong features.

Even their women have strong features. By “strong” I mean the opposite of “soft.”

They still retain the features of their Indonesian forbears.

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I remember a friend telling me he was sent by his multinational company in Jakarta for a conference.

The night after the conference my friend, a playboy, was on the prowl for beautiful women in the city.

He couldn’t find any, he said.

My friend, a Mindanaoan, said the women looked like those from Marawi and Shariff Aguak.

Before you guys get mad at me, it was my friend talking, not me.

* * *

The most beautiful Muslim women are found in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Why do the Tausug women look different from their sisters in Marawi and Maguindanao?

Because the Muslims of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi permit marriages with other tribes and even Christians, whereas Maguindanaoans and Maranaws are “closed” societies or xenophobic.

Xenophobia or hatred for strangers is the reason most Maranaws and Maguindanaos marry within the family or tribe.

Marrying your own cousin or relative is incest.

Most products of incestuous relationships don’t look so good. And that’s putting it mildly.

If you don’t believe me, just look at the Ampatuans.

In colloquial Tagalog, Andal Jr.’s face is askad.

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You think GMA has disowned the Ampatuans for their crime?

Think again.

Why do you think the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the PNP gives the other Ampatuan boys detained at the CIDG headquarters in General Santos City VIP treatment?

The order to give them VIP treatment apparently comes from the Palace.

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Why do the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces concentrate on dismantling the private army of the Ampatuans?

The Mangudadatus, the mortal enemy of the Ampatuans, also have their own private army.

The PNP and the AFP should also dismantle the private armed group of the Mangudadatus.

Fair is fair.

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A bodyguard of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu allegedly shot to death two law enforcers at the Subic Bay Freeport.

You think the Mangudadatus behave better than the Ampatuans?

Well, just because their women became victims of the Maguindanao massacre doesn’t mean they’re different from the Ampatuans.

If the tables were turned, the Mangudadatus could have behaved like the Ampatuans.

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Members of the commission to dismantle private armies took their oath Tuesday.

The members were handpicked by President Gloria.

One of the commission members is a fellow crime fighter, Dante Jimenez, head of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

Jimenez should have turned down his appointment because his name is just being used as a deodorizer.

The commission is a paper tiger.