They use elective positions to earn from illicit trades, with Palace blessings

What will the Ampatuan and other clans lose if clan members fail to get elected to key positions in the 5 provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the coming elections?

Aside from power, there are the fund transfers between the central government and ARMM in the form of internal revenue allotments or IRA amounting to P2.23 billion in 2006 alone.

There are also huge revenues from a growing underground economy marked by a proliferating trade in illegal drugs, unlicensed firearms sales, control over small scale and unlicensed mining activities, and smuggling. 

Earnings from the illicit activities are deposited and laundered in commercial banks in the key cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iligan, and Zamboanga.

These are the among the findings of a new study titled “Inclusive Peace in Muslim Mindanao: Revisiting the Dynamics of Conflict and Exclusion” authored by Francisco J. Lara and Phil Champain and funded by the London-based International Alert.

Often referred to as “resource curse” some scholars have pointed to the connection between lootable resources and non-separatist violence; and between non-lootable resources and separatist violence.

The clans are deeply involved in the lootable resources and non-separatist violence in ARMM.

Winner takes all

History shows how the power of the clans that were a fixture of traditional Muslim societies were held in check by the rebel forces of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the long years of conflict from 1970 to 2001, the authors relate.

However, with the weakness of Nur Misuari’s MNLF-run ARMM government and its inability to control the violence that intensified following the increase of rido (inter- and intra-clan violence) and the war between the MILF and the Philippine government, a window was opened for rival groups to step up to the plate and reacquire economic and political power, the authors note.

Misuari was arrested and imprisoned in 2001, paving the way for the restoration of clan politics and the emergence of warlord clans that exercise power based on their control over devolved political authority and the vast underground economy.

Clan control over the ARMM government and the informal governments in the regions induces many of the violent competition similar to the traditional clan control over land, the authors observe.

This drives the violent, “winner takes all” nature of electoral competition with government consumption expenditures in the ARMM growing at a faster rate than the rest of Mindanao combined.

Hence, it is clear that whoever controlled the state would corner those vast resources, the authors point out.

Malacañang’s nod

The violent mix between a spreading underground economy and electoral corruption also reflects the forces and the relationship that binds the central government in Manila with Muslim Mindanao.

Sub-national state building is beneficial for the main objective of sustaining the powerful coalition at the national level—in this case the government of President Arroyo, the authors say.

In the 2004 presidential elections, Arroyo won a resounding majority over Fernando Poe Jr. in the ARMM voting, allegedly due to massive cheating.

In the 2007 senate race, the ruling Lakas-Kampi coalition trounced the opposition candidates, again allegedly due to massive cheating.

The underground economy and a corrupt political system are permitted to exist by Malacañang, despite the loss of valuable revenues and the collapse of legitimate autonomous rule in exchange for delivering votes to the ruling coalition during national elections, the authors point out.

The current ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan comes from a strong clan in Central Mindanao, known for its firepower and political influence that stretches beyond Central Mindanao.

Roots of violence

The study anticipated the firepower that produced the rido-driven Maguindanao massacre last November 23, where 57 persons in a convoy were ambushed and killed including women from the Mangudadatu clan and 30 journalists. Twenty-five charges of murder has been filed against Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. for allegedly masterminding the killings.

Most studies of Mindanao conflict highlight the injustices and grievances against the colonial and post-colonial Philippine state, the authors observe.

The studies trace the roots of violence to the historical resistance of the Bangsa Moro (Moro Nation) to a foreign colonizer and who ruled Mindanao and bringing with them the Christian settlers and businessmen from Luzon and Visayas, and the transnational companies that grabbed the lands farmed and occupied by the Muslims and indigenous peoples.

This belief persists despite the shift in economic balance of power, the changes in local political authority, and the different set of actors that play a role in governance today, the authors note.

But the sources of unrest and trigger of violence and conflict in the ARMM have markedly changed, the authors insist.

Francisco J. Lara is a research associate at the Crisis States Research Center, London School of Economics. Phil Champain is International Alert director for Eurasia and Asia regions.

International Alert is an independent, peace-building NGO with more than 120 staff based in London and 11 field offices including the Philippines. (Newsbreak)

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