BANGKOK, Thailand (MindaNews/25 Nov) – The Ampatuan Massacre once again underscores the perils of our weak State with government wracked by issues of legitimacy.

The democratic system and the principle of republicanism have ushered in a less barbaric process of power appropriation. Republicanism shifted the source of power from “divine rights” of kings and the royalty to the people. The 1987 Constitution promulgates that “Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”

Government malfunction means that will and aspiration of the people are frustrated.

The Ampatuan Massacre is a serious symptom of this socio-political affliction.

The process of delegation from the sovereign – the people – is through the determination of the will of the majority in a process of election. For this delegation of power to be valid and legitimate, elections should be honest, fair and periodic.

Honest and fair elections in areas ruled by nasty warlords are something that is alien.

The role Maguindanao and the Ampatuans played in the 2004 and 2007 elections are so glaring to forget. The Hello Garci wiretap controversy points to Maguindanao as one of the major sources of the one-million vote lead GMA was demanding from COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

The 12-0 win of the administration senatorial ticket in 2007 in Maguindanao was meant to neutralize the opposition in the Senate. As we all know, Malacañang needs to neutralize the opposition in the Senate as it would serve as the jury in any impeachment trial and it is where the scandals that wracked the Arroyo administration have been exposed and investigated.

In return for wholesale vote buying the warlords act with impunity, treating the people as mere subjects. These social realities speak of the very foundation of our democratic and republican state. It weakens the highest delegated authority of the land, the Presidency, as it exposes the bestial underbelly of the occupant in Malacañang. In sum it weakens our State.

The Ampatuan Massacre is an untrammeled exercise of impunity and a clear indication of weak government control.

In the aftermath of the grisly massacre, GMA issued marching orders to meet the ends of justice. These should be taken with a grain of salt. Talk is cheap.

It is high time the government exercise its full coercive power in order to restore the rule of law. Unlike the 2008 violence perpetrators who were in the first place underground combatants of the MILF, this time the suspects are government officials and very much above ground. The guns and bullets used may have been bought by taxpayers money and the killers paid for by the taxpayers.

There should be no blinking. In these abnormal times, the government is required to put to good use the extra-ordinary powers provided for by the Constitution and our statutes.

GMA, who survived many controversies in the past, should at least try to redeem herself by acting impartially against the purported masterminds of the Ampatuan Massacre even if it means bringing down the house figuratively and literally of the powerful Ampatuan clan, a known Malacañang ally and believed to be one of the biggest wholesaler of votes to Malacañang in at least the two previous elections.

Failure by the government to roll the wheels of justice will further complicate the already aggravated peace situation in Central Mindanao.

It may further shift the balance of power in that part of the country as people frustrated by injustice may resort to extra legal and illegal means, especially that the alleged brains of the massacre, the Ampatuans, are mortal enemies of the biggest Bangsamoro rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Government action should be swift, strong and just. Anything less would further weaken our already weak democratic and republican State. Furthermore, it would definitely worsen the lingering conflict-induced humanitarian crises, with all those internally displaced persons, in that part of world.

(BenCyrus G. Ellorin is an environmentalist and peace advocate. He is currently a Peace Communication Fellow supported by the Norwegian volunteer organization FredsKorpset. Comments can be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

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