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.

THE prosecution considers his testimony crucial to its case against Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who stands accused in the November 23 mass murder of 57 people in Maguindanao. But Ampatuan town Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki’s words were almost lost in translation as the interpreter appointed by the court struggled to keep up with his testimony, which he gave in a mixture of Filipino and Maguindanaoan.