Word: maguindanao
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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...this year's election security is under particularly intense scrutiny here and abroad after rivalry over a gubernatorial post between two Muslim clans triggered the massacre of 57 civilians, including 30 journalists, in Maguindanao province on the volatile southern island of Mindanao in November. While this was an extreme act of political violence, six candidates running for posts in other local governments have already been murdered since Jan. 1, according to press reports. In a Tuesday night police raid to uncover the weapons cache of a private armed group in Cavite province on the island of Luzon, four police officers...
...Since the Maguindanao massacre, President Gloria Arroyo has faced a clamor of calls to dismantle the long-established private armed groups run by regionally powerful strongmen to protect their political and economic interests. Elections routinely become a dirty showdown when a clean sweep isn't anticipated, as armed goons intimidate rival candidates, cow voters and coerce Comelec officials with bribes and threats to rig votes...
...same, progress in breaking up the private armed groups would be an undeniable achievement for Arroyo, an unpopular but hardworking leader whose presidency has been jolted by corruption scandals. She has already shown it is possible: shortly after the Maguindanao massacre, troops were rushed to the province, successfully disarming the Ampatuan clan's large private army and seizing its huge cache of high-powered weapons...