A link to an article describing the grisly election related massacre in the Philippines.  The location of the massacre, Mindanao has long been the troubled and violent underbelly of the Philippines.  Unlike the rest of the largely Catholic country, the island has a large Muslim population and a long running separatist movement.  It last showed up in American newscasts in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Bali bombings when the Bush administration dispatched American military advisers to combat some of the more extreme groups there.  In fairness to Mindanao, violence appears endemic in the political system of the Philippines.

This massacre appears to have jarred a country inured to bouts of violence.  However, with the country’s political establishment owing their offices and sinecures to similar (if not as brazen) violent methods it is unlikely that any meaningful steps will be taken to stem the rot in the Philippines political system.

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