» In Maguindanao, no one dares cross the Ampatuans
November 25, 2009 @ 0750PM
The massacre on Monday of women, lawyers, and journalists by alleged gunmen of the Ampatuan clan shocked the nation. But people in Maguindanao have always known that you defy the Ampatuans at your peril. In 2008, journalist Jaileen Jimeno, then of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, ventured into Maguindanao, dared probe the hold of the Ampatuans over the province, and made it out alive. She reported on a place bristling with guns and on a clan supported by the Arroyo administration because the Ampatuans can virtually guarantee victory at the polls.
| 42 notes
