DAVAO CITY – The Ampatuans, Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Masturas, Sangkis comprise the majority among Maguindanao’s 879 candidates running for 374 posts

A BILLIONAIRE and four other millionaires lead the pack of those who want to serve as the15th president of the Philippines, all invariably swearing by an anti-poverty platform, and with some purposely harking on their poverty roots to spin and curry favor with majority of voters who are poor.

A FEW weeks after the Maguindanao massacre, Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief administrator of martial law in the area, received an unusual call on his cell phone. On the other end of the line was a trusted aide of Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, who was days earlier replaced as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

IN JULY last year, Philippine National Police officers from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PNP-ARMM) met with representatives from the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) for what should have been a fairly straightforward transaction.