The Government of the Philippines declared a state of emergency in the southern island of Mindanao today after gunmen killed and mutilated at least 46 people in the country’s worst single act of political violence.
The President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, announced the emergency decree as police and soldiers recovered dozens more bodies from shallow graves in Maguindanao province, where they were buried hastily yesterday.
The atrocity is a personal embarrassment for Ms Arroyo. who is supported by the local politician widely suspected of being behind the killings.
The victims were relatives and supporters of an opposition politician who were travelling to register his candidacy in next year’s election for the governorship of Maguindanao. The candidate, Ismael Mangudadatu, sent his wife and sisters and two female lawyers, in the belief that as women they would not be targeted by his enemies. All were killed, and reportedly raped, along with at least a dozen local journalists who were reporting on the event.
Local military officers have said that they suspect the murders were carried out by supporters of the former governor, Andal Ampatuan, whose family dominates politics in Maguindanao and whose son was planning to run in next year’s election. His candidacy was to have been opposed by Mr Mangudadatu, whose own clan is a long-standing political rival of the Ampatuans.
Mr Ampatuan is a dominating figure in Maguindanao and a loyal supporter of Ms Arroyo. He has been elected unopposed three times to the governorship of the province. Of the 22 mayors in the province, most are his sons, grandsons or blood relations.
“The suspects are bodyguards of Ampatuan, local police aides and certain lawless elements,” the local military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Brawner, said.
The victims were found lying on a hillside and buried in shallow graves close to where their convoy was stopped yesterday by gunmen, and near the town which bears the name of the Ampatuan family. Some, including a pregnant woman, had their hands bound behind their backs and appeared to have been killed with bullets and knives. The clothing of the female victims had been interfered with, suggesting that they may have been sexually assaulted.
Family rivalries, as well as widespread corruption, the ready availability of guns, and a long-running Islamic insurgency, have all contributed the chronic violence that afflicts Mindanao. Mr Ampatuan has narrowly avoided assassination himself, with the help of his own private militia. In 2001 alone he survived three attempts on his life, the last involving rocket propelled grenades fired at his convoy.
In an indication of the depth of the problem, a senior police officer was sacked after it was reported that he was present at the massacre. “Chief Inspector [Zukarno] Dicay, the assistant provincial director, has been relieved,” the national police spokesman, Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, said. “He is under investigation and is under restriction. He was seen at the scene of the crime.”
The state of emergency empowers the armed forces to stop, search and detain citizens for an indefinite period in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City. “There are no sacred cows,” the Philippines’ Interior Minister, Ronaldo Puno, said. “It is going to be a direct investigation of the crimes committed. We have some information about specific names, not just those who ordered this thing, but also those who committed it.”
More bodies may be recovered as the search continues. “They are still looking for some missing persons,” Mr Puno said yesterday. “It’s a large number. It’s a big area where these bodies were found. They are finding a couple of bodies every couple of hours or so.”
“There is an urgent need to prevent and suppress the occurrence of several other incidents of lawless violence,” said Ms Arroyo’s spokesman, Serge Remonde, in announcing the decree. “No one will be untouchable.”
Mr Mangudadatu said that four people had survived the massacre and were under the protection of his family. “They will come out at the right time, they are safe with us,” he said. “It was really planned because they had already dug a huge hole.”
The Philippines has long been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Yesterday the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said that the massacre represented the “worst loss of life in one day in the history of journalism”.
It added: “We convey our condolences and sympathy to all journalists in the Philippines, who are in state of shock after this appalling massacre.”
Source:
Times Online
Pictures courtesy of Times Online
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