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Filipino candidate undaunted by killings
Source: Agencies |
November 28, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A POLITICIAN whose wife and relatives were among 57 people massacred in the southern Philippines in an apparent bid to stop him running for governor filed his candidacy yesterday.
"Only death can stop me from running," said Ismael Mangudadatu, escorted by soldiers, a police commander and a senior army general. He submitted his documents to the Elections Commission in the Maguindanao provincial capital of Sharrif Aguak.
His caravan of more than 50 vehicles took the same road where his wife, two sisters, supporters and journalists were stopped and killed on Monday and their bodies dumped in mass graves.
Along the highway, groups of people waved at the cars and raised their thumbs and clenched their fists in approval. But inside Shariff Aguak, the stronghold of the rival Ampatuan clan, the mood was different. There were no enthusiastic crowds with only a few pedestrians.
The main suspect in the slayings, Andal Ampatuan Jr, a scion of the clan that has ruled Maguindanao unopposed for years, turned himself in on Thursday under threat of military attack against his family's compound. He was expected to be charged in the slayings yesterday. He maintains his innocence.
"This symbolizes our freedom. I hope this will be the start of our liberation," said Mangudadatu. He proudly held up his certificate of candidacy in front of reporters and followers.
About 100 supporters applauded and cheered him outside the elections office.
Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan township, did the unthinkable when he decided to run in the May 2010 elections. Having received death threats, he sent his wife, sisters and other female relatives on Monday to submit his papers, hoping that women would be spared the kind of violence that reigns in the region.
"Only death can stop me from running," said Ismael Mangudadatu, escorted by soldiers, a police commander and a senior army general. He submitted his documents to the Elections Commission in the Maguindanao provincial capital of Sharrif Aguak.
His caravan of more than 50 vehicles took the same road where his wife, two sisters, supporters and journalists were stopped and killed on Monday and their bodies dumped in mass graves.
Along the highway, groups of people waved at the cars and raised their thumbs and clenched their fists in approval. But inside Shariff Aguak, the stronghold of the rival Ampatuan clan, the mood was different. There were no enthusiastic crowds with only a few pedestrians.
The main suspect in the slayings, Andal Ampatuan Jr, a scion of the clan that has ruled Maguindanao unopposed for years, turned himself in on Thursday under threat of military attack against his family's compound. He was expected to be charged in the slayings yesterday. He maintains his innocence.
"This symbolizes our freedom. I hope this will be the start of our liberation," said Mangudadatu. He proudly held up his certificate of candidacy in front of reporters and followers.
About 100 supporters applauded and cheered him outside the elections office.
Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan township, did the unthinkable when he decided to run in the May 2010 elections. Having received death threats, he sent his wife, sisters and other female relatives on Monday to submit his papers, hoping that women would be spared the kind of violence that reigns in the region.
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