Asia-Pacific

Philippines declares emergency after 24 killed

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-24 14:27

The five vans being used by the group were found abandoned. The army and police were searching for as many as 16 other people who were missing, military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said, adding that troops were looking for more bodies in areas that appeared to have been recently dug up.

A backhoe was apparently used to bury the bodies, said army commander Lt. Col. Rolando Nerona.

While candidates are typically part of the festive caravans that travel to file election papers, Mangudadatu had sent his family and supporters because he had received death threats. Most of those on the caravan were women because it was thought they would be safer than men.

The military said it believed the motive for the attack was political, and Puno vowed there would be no sacred cows in the investigation. "Within day or two, we should be starting to call people or making arests. We have some information already about specific names but we can't disclose them."

National police chief Jesus Verzosa placed a police chief in the area under investigation and relieved him of his duties.

The Ampatuans were unreachable for comment.

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 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who ordered military action against the gunmen.

Philippine elections are particularly violent in the south because of the presence of armed groups, including Muslim rebels fighting for self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, and political warlords who maintain private armies.

The last elections in 2007 were considered peaceful, even though about 130 people were killed.

The decades-long Muslim insurgency has killed about 120,000 people since the 1970s. But a presidential adviser, Jesus Dureza, said Monday's massacre was "unequaled in recent history."

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.

"Because of the absence of viable political institutions, powerful men are taking over," he said. "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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