Politicians, their private armies tagged top ARMM rights abusers

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—A top human rights official said abuses by powerful political clans in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are keeping the region’s human rights record dismal.

A military official, however, said the government’s war on private armies, which help political clans in the ARMM rule through the barrel of the gun, is continuing without letup.

Loretta Ann Rosales, chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), said the CHR is making its presence felt in the ARMM because of dozens of undocumented cases of human rights violations in the region.

Brig. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, deputy commander of the Army’s Sixth Infantry Division, said while political warlords still exist in the ARMM, the military was not slowing down in its campaign to deprive them of at least two of their sources of power—guns and goons.

“Our operations against loose firearms and the dismantling of private armies continues,” said Bernardo.

Among the powerful clans that are targets now of the military campaign is the Ampatuan family, whose key members are now on trial for the Nov. 23, 2009, Maguindanao massacre.

Chief Supt. Bienvinido Latag, ARMM police director, said while the threat from separatist guerrillas and terror groups has become manageable, police were having more difficulty dealing with powerful politicians who move around with a retinue of heavily armed men.

Latag, however, said “this has been minimized” starting with police operations to seize caches of firearms belonging to and arrest gunmen working for the Ampatuan clan.

CHR Chair Rosales said the commission is establishing an office in the ARMM to document complaints of human rights abuses by political warlords.

Naguib Sinarimbo, executive secretary of the ARMM, said the “perceived high security risk in the region has been the major stumbling block to development.”

Politicians in the ARMM, he said, are notorious for human rights abuses. Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao