'Maguindanao police powerless'

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman implicated in the Nov. 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre alleged on Friday that the police in the province were rendered powerless by members of the civilian volunteer organization (CVO), making them unable to thwart the murders.

During the administrative case hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa, Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg said that CVOs in Maguindanao are “more powerful than the cops.”

“They (CVO’s) have more authority than us (policemen). It seems that they are more powerful that’s why we cannot do anything,” Macaraeg said. “They even carry bigger firearms compared to us.”

The administrative hearing against 62 policemen stemmed from the complaint filed by the kin of the massacre victims before the National Police Commission.

In a previous testimony, Macaraeg admitted that police had flagged down the victims’ convoy led by the wife of then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, but stressed that their participation stopped there as they no longer accompanied the victims to the hilly site where they were killed.

Aside from being bullied by the CVOs, Macaraeg also claimed that police are scared to go against the powers in “Ampatuan country” — referring to the clan implicated in the massacre.

When asked to expound on why he called the province an Ampatuan country, Macaraeg said: “They are powerful in that place. We cannot do anything or something might happen to us.”

At least 57 people were killed last November in what was considered the worst election related violence in the country.

The convoy, which included 32 journalists, were on their way to Cotabato to file Mangudadatu’s certificate of candidacy when they were intercepted and murdered.

Mangudadatu is the political rival of the Ampatuan clan.

Members of the Ampatuan clan, including its patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Sr. and sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy, have repeatedly denied any involvement in the crime. 

Andal Jr., the massacre’s prime suspect, has pleaded not guilty to the 57 counts of murder.