Word: groupsings
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For unscrupulous candidates in Philippines politics, murder has long been the ultimate political tool for eliminating rivals to steal a win at the polls. "This is especially so at the level of local rather than national politics," says Benito Lim, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines...
Since the Maguindanao massacre, President Gloria Arroyo has faced a clamor of calls to dismantle the long-established private armed groups run by regionally powerful strongmen to protect their political and economic interests. Elections routinely become a dirty showdown when a clean sweep isn't anticipated, as armed goons intimidate...
Police have 68 armed groups on a watch list; most are concentrated in long-standing election trouble spots, such as the autonomous region for Muslims on Mindanao Island and a clutch of clannish northern provinces. "Based on our estimates there are at least 200 private armed groups nationwide if you...
President Arroyo has formed a commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to recommend measures for breaking up these private armed groups over the election period - a move criticized in some circles as unnecessary. "The issue of dismantling them doesn't require further study. The police and armed forces...
All the same, progress in breaking up the private armed groups would be an undeniable achievement for Arroyo, an unpopular but hardworking leader whose presidency has been jolted by corruption scandals. She has already shown it is possible: shortly after the Maguindanao massacre, troops were rushed to the province, successfully...