“IMAGINING the horror those women victims must have felt sent chills down our spine. But more importantly, the barbaric abuse incites rage among women.”

        This was the reaction of the militant women's group on the confirmation that at least five women victims of the Ampatuan Massacre were raped before they were killed.

        According to the women's group, it is not unexpected that the women victims were first sexually abused before they were killed.

        “Rape is always a tool in the unjust assertion of political power like in wars of aggression and political repression. Women are always vulnerable to sexual violence especially in a country like the Philippines where the Arroyo government perpetuates the culture of impunity,” bewailed Shiela Ferrer, Gabriela-NCR Chair and Gabriela Women's Party nominee.

        “Perpetrators of this horrid crime must be punished. More than this, we must hold accountable the powers that be that created the culture of impunity which includes sexual abuse of women. We must hold accountable the government who rewards rapists and violators of women's rights like Romeo Jalosjos and Jovito Palparan,” said Ferrer.

         “We hold the US-backed Arroyo government directly accountable for the massacre especially with the cache of ammunitions of the Ampatuans --- ammunitions used by the Ampatuans to terrorize and kill --- that were otherwise consigned to the Department of National Defense,” Ferrer added. The women's group said that the issue should be foremost in the minds of the Filipinos in the upcoming national elections. “To fight the culture of impunity, we must thwart the political bid of rapists, human rights violators, mass murderers, and especially the evil president who coddles all these monsters.”