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R/£ 46 die in Philippino political massacre
Among the dead are politicians and 12 journalistsNovember 25, 2009 Edition 1
Sapa-AFP-AP Saniag, Philippines
Screams of anguish pierced the farming village of Saniag yesterday as police pulled bodies from a mass grave, unearthing one of the most brutal political killings in Philippine history.
A woman identified by police as the widow of murdered local freelance journalist Napoleon Salaysay stepped up, tears welling in her eyes, to claim one of the bullet-riddled cadavers.
The victims had been dumped in the hastily dug graves on Monday, shortly after gunmen allegedly linked to a local political chief shot dead at least 46 of them from close range with what police said were M-16 assault rifles.
They were among a small party of mostly female opposition politicians and a large group of accompanying journalists who were abducted on Monday morning as they embarked on a trip to register for next year's national elections.
Several hours after the abduction, the military found the victims' six-vehicle convoy just off the lonely unpaved road of Saniag along with 22 bodies that had been dumped close by.
A mechanical digger that authorities suspected may have been used to make the mass graves was also still there.
It had the name "Andal Ampatuan Snr" painted on it. Ampatuan is the governor of Maguindanao province, who authorities say is suspected of organising the massacre.
Police said some of the female victims had their lower garments unzipped and that investigations were being carried to determine if anyone had been raped before being killed.
Yesterday, with the nation already in shock at the magnitude of the massacre, investigators found two mass graves within 20 metres of each other, with 17 bodies in just one of them.
"They were piled on top of each other. It looked as if they were buried hurriedly," said the regional police commander, Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna.
Altogether, 24 bodies were recovered yesterday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 46.
Local press organisations said the dead included at least 12 journalists, making Monday's shootings the world's single deadliest attack on the press in modern history.
Following the find, the Philippine president placed two southern provinces under emergency rule.
The southern region of the Philippines is racked by violent political rivalries, in addition to a long-running Islamic insurgency.
The wife and two sisters of the gubernatorial candidate, Ismael Mangudadatu, were among the dead.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared an emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao and nearby Sultan Kudarat, allowing security forces to conduct random searches and set up checkpoints to pursue the gunmen.
Arroyo said she had ordered police and the military "to conduct immediate, relentless pursuit against the perpetrators to secure the affected areas".
The emergency would remain in place until the president was confident that law and order had been restored in the region, her spokesman Cerge Remonde said.
The government stressed that it would go after the culprits, regardless of where the investigation leads.
"No one will be untouchable," Remonde told reporters, calling Monday's killings "unconscionable".
National police chief Jesus Verzosa relieved Maguindanao's provincial police chief and three other officers of their duties and confined them to camp while they are investigated.
One of the police officers was reported to have been seen in the company of the gunmen and pro-government militiamen who stopped the convoy, police said.
The region, among the nation's poorest and awash with weapons, has been intermittently ruled by the Ampatuan family since 2001. It is allied with Arroyo.
Arroyo's political adviser, Gabriel Claudio, said he was meeting with Zaldy Ampatuan, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where Maguindanao province is located, to try to mediate in the long-running rivalry between the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus.
Julkipli Wadi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of the Philippines, said he doubted the national government's resolve in trimming the powers of political dynasties like the Ampatuans because they deliver votes during elections. "Big political forces and personalities in the national government are sustaining the warlords, especially during election time, because they rely on big families for their votes."
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