State Of Emergency Declared As Death Toll In Philippine Election Massacre Rises To 46

Mindanao, Philippines (AHN) - Authorities investigating the massacre of a group of people on their way to a local election office on Monday, have found 24 more bodies on putting the death toll to 46. The convoy in the southern region of Mindanao was carrying the wife of a gubernatorial candidate, his security personnel, lawyers and journalists when it was attacked by armed men believed to have been hired by a political rival. The government has declared a state of emergency in the provinces in the region.

The wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Toto Mangudadatu was on her way to the local Commission on Elections office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, to file her husband's certificate of candidacy for governor. She was in a convoy of six vans carrying two lawyers, about 30 journalists and members of her family, including her sister and current Mangudadatu town vice mayor.

According to authorities, at least 100 armed men stopped the convoy at around 9:00 am local time in Barangay Saniag, and brought them to an area 10 kilometers from the national highway in Barangay Malating. The victims were buried in shallow graves after being gunned down.

Twenty-two bodies were initially recovered, including the body of the wife of Mangudadatu. The 24 bodies retrieved on Tuesday included the remains of people who were not part of the convoy.

Several civilians and employees of the city government of Tacurong and the local National Economic Development Authority office who "happened to be there [at the highway]" were also killed, according to Senior Supt. Willie Dangane.

Mangudadatu was planning to succeed Datu Andal Ampatuan to be the next governor of Maguindanao, a province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that is ruled by powerful clans. He has expressed suspicions that the gunmen who attacked his wife's convoy are supporters of his rival.

There are reports that Ampatuan's son, Shariff Aguak mayor Andal Jr., led the attack on the convoy.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has condemned the violence, and declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao, as well as in Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat.

The Armed Forces is also working to secure the area through air and ground operations and the resources of at least six companies.

"We have infused more personnel, armored personnel carriers, more helicopters in the area and all of these are now being used to go after the perpetrators," said Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner. "We are going after the group but we are not certain whether the mayor himself [Andal Jr.] is with that group at the moment."

Amnesty International has called on the government to launch "an independent and effective investigation" and "ensure that they do all they can to prevent more killings and other violence."

"The government must prohibit and disband private armies and paramilitary forces immediately," the group also said.

Reporters Without Borders similarly appealed to the Arroyo administration, "We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao. This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities."

Apart from the prevalence of private political armies, Maguindanao is part of a region that has seen centuries of strife between Muslims and Christians, the majority in Asia's first Roman Catholic nation. A separatist movement was successfully halted with a peace agreement in 1996 with the Moro National Liberation Front. However, the insurgency has continued with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf, a group known to behead its victims and that has been classified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales on Tuesday sought to assure the nation that there would be no retaliation by the Mangudadatu clan.

"I think the Mangudadato family has no plan, I don't think they are intending to use force in the resolution of this case," Gonzales said.