In his online column Action Plan, Alex Magno of The Philippine Star analyzed why the government placed the province of Maguindanao under martial law.
According to him, the government’s action plan can be dissected into four points:
- Disarm and disband the civilian volunteer militia loyal to the Ampatuans. While the job of the police is to gather evidence and look for potential witnesses, it is quite difficult to conduct these activities if the estimated 4,000-strong civilian volunteer organization (CVO) militants are freely roaming around Maguindanao.
- Replace the entire Maguindanao police force. Since the local police have also been linked to the massacre and most of them are loyal to the Ampatuans, it is necessary to replace them so that impartial collection of evidence and testimonies can be done.
- Preventive suspension of all local government officials in Maguindanao. With the Ampatuans still in power, they can mobilize their armed component and can potentially trigger a small war in Maguindanao. Their presence can also intimidate potential witnesses from testifying and/or providing vital information.
- Collect evidence and testimonies. Again, if all armed elements are removed or neutralized, it would be easy for the police to do their job and for the judicial process to take its course.
You can read the full article on Philstar.com.
{ 3 comments }
DM,
Thanks for visiting my blog at Asian Correspondent.
I wrote that piece sometime ago, it’s actually something that was e-mailed to me and I just turned it into a blog entry.
I didn’t think much about it and no one seemed interested in what was being said. Right now, it’s being shared all over Facebook.
I really don’t care who people vote for in the end so long as they go through a process of discernment, where critical thinking plays a major part.
With regard to this entry of yours, I agree that Martial Law is necessary in areas which have a proven record of being in a state of lawlessness most of the times.
PB, thanks for dropping by
I do hope our fellow countrymen choose the best leader based on track record, competency, and character.
As far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter who you end up voting for as President as long as you arrive at that decision using a rational, evidence based process.
What our elections should really teach us is how to make quality decisions.
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