Philippine Politics

President Gloria Arroyo said on Tuesday the southern third of the Philippines would have descended into chaos if she had not declared martial law after a political massacre that left 57 people dead. The nine days of martial law in Maguindanao province quelled a rebellion by a powerful Muslim clan that is accused of being behind the massacre, Arroyo said in her first public comments on her controversial decision. "This action was consistent with my obligation to our nation, no one will ever be allowed to bring rebellion to this country, let alone murder and go free," Arroyo said in a speech to teachers ... Read Full Story

Tense negotiations to free 57 people held captive by tribal gunmen wanted for murder in the volatile southern Philippines entered their second day Friday, amid signs of a breakthrough. The gunmen, members of the indigenous Manobo tribe, said they were willing to free the hostages who spent the night in a mountain hideout surrounded by security forces, negotiator Josefina Bajade said. "They are okay and alive," Bajade said of the hostages, who were among 75 people, including school children, initially seized by the group from a village in Prosperidad town on Mindanao island Thursday. "They said they were willing to give up and release ... Read Full Story

President Gloria Arroyo on Saturday lifted martial law in a southern Philippine province where an election-linked massacre left 57 people dead, senior aides announced. "Proclamation 1959 is lifted effective 9:00pm today (1300 GMT)," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told a news conference. Arroyo met her top security advisers earlier Saturday and the meeting concluded that the government had achieved its main objectives in troubled Maguindanao province, which was placed under martial rule on December 4, Ermita said. The security forces said the regime, which empowered them to arrest suspects without court orders, has allowed them to take into custody many of the suspects in the ... Read Full Story

Philippine lawmakers engaged in heated debate Thursday over President Gloria Arroyo's controversial martial law to quell an alleged rebellion by a powerful clan accused of a political massacre. Opposition members of both houses of Congress moved to overturn what they said was the "unconstitutional" imposition of military rule in the southern province of Maguindanao on Friday, but conceded they were unlikely to succeed. "The imposition of martial law in Maguindanao is wrong. It is against the constitution. The alleged rebellion exists only in their imagination," Senator Mar Roxas said, but lamented that his views "were not shared by the majority". Arroyo's critics voiced fears ... Read Full Story

The Philippine government and Muslim separatists have a good chance of achieving a "just and lasting" peace deal, a government official said Tuesday as talks resumed after a 16-month impasse. Rafael Seguis, the government's top negotiator, said in an opening statement to two-day talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Malaysian capital that the process was "now formally back on track." "I believe -- and I am sure that we all share this optimism -- that we will be able to forge a peace settlement that is just, lasting, acceptable, and truly beneficial to the Muslim Filipinos in Mindanao, and to ... Read Full Story