The Department of Health response to the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines

摘要

In the aftermath of election related violence in an area of armed conflict in the Philippines, the Philippine Department of Health deployed a psychosocial team to the area to carry out psychosocial interventions. The main intervention was an activity called Psychosocial Processing (PSP) that is briefly described and discussed in this field report.In November 2009, the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines was the scene of a violent attack upon a convoy of a local politician who wanted to challenge the provincial governor in the upcoming elections. Passengers were abducted and killed; female victims were raped, shot in the genitals and beheaded. In total, 57 people were killed (of whom 34 were journalists). The attack was probably organised by the incumbent governor who was later arrested, and now awaits trial.