With machinations almost Shakespearean in nature, the generations-long feud between two political clans in Buluan, Maguindanao—a rural area located in the southern part of the Philippines—has risen to heights in what observers can only describe as a “gruesome massacre” “unequalled in recent history.”

On Monday, a group of at least 36 people, mostly composed of women identified with Buluan vice mayor Dato “Toto” Mangudadatu and 12 journalists, were abducted and later killed by close to a hundred gunmen allegedly led by members of rival Ampatuan political clan. As of Wednesday, the number of bodies found rose to 52.

More than the fact that helpless and unarmed journalists were killed, is the fact that all people in the group were helpless and unarmed.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has placed Maguindanao under a state of emergency, ordering the Philippine National Police to go after the perpetrators.

Four days after the filing for candidacy was opened and at six months before the elections, this is the first election-related crime to hit headlines. Shakespeare had it better. Clearly, we’re in a tragedy.

PHOTO CREDITS
Associated Press (Aaron Favila, Noel Celis)
www.worldphotos.com
www.wn.com