Journalist Aquiles Zonio writes about the events leading up to the convoy going to the provincial capitol. And how he managed to avoid death:
Believing in the power of the media, Mangudadatu, who felt helpless then, asked help from the media.
He requested several journalists—through Henry Araneta of DZRH—to cover the scheduled filing of his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections provincial office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
Araneta managed to invite 37 journalists from the cities of General Santos, Tacurong and Koronadal.
The gubernatorial aspirant claimed reports had reached him that the Ampatuans had threatened to chop him into pieces once he filed his COC with the Comelec.
All in all, there were 58 persons—37 journalists, 16 Muslim women who handcarried Mangudadatu’s COC and five drivers—in the convoy.
Military sources disclosed that several other innocent motorists from Buluan and Tacurong City were seized and summarily executed on mere suspicion that they, too, were followers of the Mangudadatus.
I meant to post a link to this article previously but didn’t get around to it. It verbalizes some of the gravity of the situation from one of the people directly affected:
Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan town who is running for provincial governor, also said his wife was sexually assaulted and mutilated before being killed in the mass slaughter, which he and police said was organized by his political rival.
“We can’t call him an animal because I have pets and they are tame. No, he is a monster. They are monsters,” Mangudadatu told reporters Wednesday.
“We sent women because in the Muslim culture you don’t hurt women,” he said.
“My youngest sister was five months’ pregnant, while my aunt was into her sixth month of pregnancy.”
Mangudadatu gave a sickening description of his wife’s fate.
“My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it,” he said.
“They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her.”
Of course, authorities have not verified these statements officially. Enough said.


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