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Amnesty International, the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines, the International Federation of Journalists and the National Union of Journalists organized an event in London to put pressure on the Arroyo administration to disband all private political armies.

A minutes silence for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre

In the run-up to the May 2010 national elections in the Philippines, an entire election convoy of 63 people including 33 accompanying reporters and media personnel were ambushed and killed by armed men affiliated with the provincial ex-governor’s private militia in Maguindanao. 

“The Maguindanao massacre casts a heavy shadow over Arroyo’s presidency, Arroyo is the one who authorized private militias, and she can abolish them with the stoke of her pen," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director.  He referred to the Maguindanao massacre as the worst attack on journalists that have probably been seen anywhere in the world.

The Amnesty sponsored forum held in London

The four organizations launched an appeal on the 100th day after the Maguindanao massacre. They called on President Arroyo to revoke Executive Order 546 before she leaves Malacanang. This law allows poorly trained and unaccountable private militias and paramilitary groups to provide active support in counterinsurgency operations in the Philippines since 2006.

The use of private armies goes hand in hand with the growing number of extrajudicial killings and disappearances in the Philippines. Enforced disappearances and political killings of trade union leaders, human rights activists and journalists have spiralled out of control in the Philippines in the last decade, mainly in the name of counterinsurgency.

·        Sign postcards urging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to disarm and disband private armies.  Please enjoin your friends to sign the postcards send it via post to the Philippines. All postcards must be sent before 10 May 2010.

·        Write a personalised solidarity letter to families of the victims and to the families of the journalists by spending 10 minutes writing letters together with your friends. Please send your letters back to Amnesty International Secretariat, Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW London.  They will mail the letters in bulk to the families through the Philippines team.  All letters must be received at the IS by the end of July 2010.

·        Write to the BBC, ITN and other major news organizations requesting for further coverage or feature on the proceedings of the Maguindanao massacre case, along the lines of the largest ever single attack on journalists and media workers. So far, with very few exceptions such as by Al-Jazeera, the global media giants have given only cursory coverage of the massacre. 

·        Write to your MP raising your concerns about the Maguindanao massacre and requesting for more transparency regarding the EU funding of €3.9 million (approximately PhP 250 million) for the EU-Philippines Justice Assistance Program (EPJUST) and some allocation of this towards supporting the (1) Philippine prosecutors working on the case and (2) witness protection for the witnesses in the massacre. It doesn't matter if you are not a British citizen, your MP must take note of a constituents concerns. This is also true in the Republic of Ireland. Pinoys in Ireland write to your local TD or Senator.

The postcards and the solidarity letter sheets are available at Amnesty International. Please email philmas@amnesty.org if you wish to obtain copies of free postcard letter sheets.

During the forum, the four organizations urged the Philippine government to revoke Executive Order 546, to immediately disarm and disband all private armies, and to ensure a just and expedited prosecution of those responsible for the Maguindanao massacre. The program concluded with a minute of silence and reading of the names of the massacre victims.