It is my well-considered view that presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro is not off the hook and is partly to blame for the current major crisis in Maguindanao. When he was the defense secretary, he was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s alter ego in “giving comfort and arms” to the Ampatuans, who have been ruling Maguindanao for over a decade.

The massacre was reportedly perpetrated by the Ampatuan family, notably Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation, accused of multiple murder. When the situation worsened, President Arroyo was prompted to declare martial law in Maguindanao, ostensibly to quell a so-called “rebellion” led by the same clan, whose patriarch is Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.

While the questionable martial law declaration has now been lifted by President Arroyo, those behind the misguided government policy of arming civilian volunteers under the control of local officials should be held accountable for the Maguindanao massacre.

There are disturbing questions that must be asked of Teodoro. Did he, in his two-year stint as defense chief, not know of the stockpiling of heavy arms and ammunition by the clan in many of their mansions, and the buildup of a huge private army of para-military personnel numbering in the thousands?

After the mastermind of the shocking Maguindanao massacre was identified, Teodoro made a “show” of decisiveness by expelling the Ampatuans from the Lakas-Kampi-CMD and by accompanying Toto Mangudadatu in filing his candidacy as the official administration candidate. Both “initiatives” smacked of political opportunism and offered no solution to the problem. We may be simply substituting political control of Maguindanao from one political clan to another.

Did Teodoro not broker, in mid-2009, meetings between the Mangudadatus and the Ampatuans to convince the Mangudadatus not to contest the candidacy of a member of the Ampatuan clan?

As defense chief and alter ego of President Arroyo on law and order issues, Teodoro should have warned the President of the impending political clash in Maguindanao and instructed the Armed Forces of the Philippines to immediately disarm the private armies in the area.

The actions of Teodoro to broker political talks became more disturbing because they were designed to consolidate support for his presidential candidacy at that time. Wasn’t the agreement calculated to further reinforce the Ampatuans’ authoritarian stranglehold of political activities in the province? Did Teodoro give the blessing of the government to the Ampatuans’ strong grip on the province?

—DR. J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III,
professor, National College of Public Administration
and Governance,
University of the Philippines