Understanding the clans
of Maguindanao

CULTURAL NUANCES, economic and historical contexts, and a bewildering political milieu – understanding all these factors and how they relate to each other is the only way one can hope to understand the persistence of political clans and their continued dominance in Philippine politics.

During the launch of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) series of stories on the clans of Maguindanao, several experts stressed the need for journalists to go beyond the counting of names and listing of numbers of the political candidates in order to better explain why the clans still reign supreme in the province.

PCIJ’s Malou Mangahas on the objective of the PCIJ project

The PCIJ stories and a video documentary on the clans of Maguindanao were presented to the public in a briefing/forum in Quezon City last April 11. Joining the activity were several political, social, and cultural experts from both Manila and Maguindanao. The project was assisted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Commission on Human Rights.

The Maguindanao study is only the first of a series of efforts to better understand and explain the persistence of the clans in Philippine politics. While Maguindanao serves as the pilot province for the initial effort, the PCIJ will be conducting similar studies in other island groups in Visayas and Luzon. This, as Maguindanao is far from the only province in the country with an army of political families that are dominating a particular area, says Asian Institute of Management Policy Center director Ronald U. Mendoza.

Atty. Laisa Alamia, chairperson of the Regional Human Rights Commission for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said the PCIJ study was a very good start to understanding the nature and characteristics of dynasties wherever they may be.

Atty Laisa Alamia of the Regional Human Rights Commission on the importance of context

“This is a good start. The challenge is for all of us to continue doing this and for PCIJ to continue also doing this to help us in trying to find solutions to the problems in the ARMM,” Alamia said in the forum.

AIM’s Mendoza also endorsed the PCIJ investigative report as a model for looking into the historical and political contexts of the dynasties in the country.

AIM’s Dr. Ronald Mendoza on the national context

Another guest, Mussolini Lidasan of the Al Qalam Institute of the Ateneo de Davao, was a good example of the importance of nuancing in the reportage of dynasties. A Datu, Lidasan is one of many clan members who are engaged in civil society work to strengthen political and social structures in his home province.

The PCIJ series on the Maguindanao clans may be read here:

Ampatuans, web of kin, warp Maguindanao polls

Maguindanao’s misery: Absence of officials, absence of rage, poverty

Nat’l politicos prop dynasties as surrogates to win polls