Photographer Carsten Stormer 01/29/2011
On November 23, 2009, politician Esmael „Toto“ Mangudadatu sent a convoy of seven vans with 58 people, including 34 journalists, 21 women, several lawyers, his wife Genalyn, and some sisters and aunts, to the town of Shariff Aguak to file his candidacy for provincial governor. No one had dared to challenge the ruling Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. up to that point; a sort of self-proclaimed god-king with unlimited power.
Shortly before reaching their destination, armed men from the Ampatuan private army stop the convoy. The frightened passengers are handcuffed behind their backs, and their mobile phones and cameras are confiscated. On top of a hill, all 58 men and women are shot one by one. The act goes down in Philippine history as the „Maguindanao Massacre.“.