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Four survive Philippines massacre, says clan leader
Source: Agencies |
November 24, 2009, Tuesday
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AT least four people survived a massacre in the southern Philippines in which at least 24 people were abducted and killed by political rivals, a local politician said today.
Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife and several other family members were among those killed, told local radio that four people had survived the massacre and were under his care.
"They will come out at the right time, they are safe with us," he said.
About 100 gunmen stopped members of the Mangudadatu family, lawyers and about a dozen local journalists on the highway in Maguindanao province yesterday and herded them away at gunpoint. Around 40 people were taken away.
The army and police said they later found 24 bodies in a remote mountainous area, but there were no details on whether the rest were also killed or if there were any survivors.
Some of the victims were beheaded, and bodies mutilated, local officials said.
Military officials said the dead included Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu, who was on the way to file the nomination of Esmael, her husband, to contest the governorship of Maguindanao against Datu Andal Ampatuan, the head of a powerful local family.
The southern Philippines is riven by clan rivalries, including one between the Mangudadatus and the Ampatuans. Many politicians and elected officials in the region maintain well-equipped private armies.
Ampatuan has been elected governor of Maguindanao three times previously, always unopposed, although he resigned from the post earlier this year, apparently to circumvent term limits on elected officials.
One of his sons is the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, an area which covers six provinces.
None of the Ampatuans made any coment to local or foreign media.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo condemned the violence and ordered her top security officials to "personally oversee military action" against those behind the killings.
"No effort will be spared to bring justice to the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable to the full limit of the law," she said in a statement. "Civilised society has no place for this kind of violence."
Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontieres and the International News Safety Institute also condemned the killings.
The election process for the May 2010 national polls began last week with the filing of candidacies for more than 17,800 national and local positions.
Elections in the Philippines are usually marred by violence, especially in the south, where security forces are battling communist rebels, Islamic radicals and the clan rivalries.
Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife and several other family members were among those killed, told local radio that four people had survived the massacre and were under his care.
"They will come out at the right time, they are safe with us," he said.
About 100 gunmen stopped members of the Mangudadatu family, lawyers and about a dozen local journalists on the highway in Maguindanao province yesterday and herded them away at gunpoint. Around 40 people were taken away.
The army and police said they later found 24 bodies in a remote mountainous area, but there were no details on whether the rest were also killed or if there were any survivors.
Some of the victims were beheaded, and bodies mutilated, local officials said.
Military officials said the dead included Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu, who was on the way to file the nomination of Esmael, her husband, to contest the governorship of Maguindanao against Datu Andal Ampatuan, the head of a powerful local family.
The southern Philippines is riven by clan rivalries, including one between the Mangudadatus and the Ampatuans. Many politicians and elected officials in the region maintain well-equipped private armies.
Ampatuan has been elected governor of Maguindanao three times previously, always unopposed, although he resigned from the post earlier this year, apparently to circumvent term limits on elected officials.
One of his sons is the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, an area which covers six provinces.
None of the Ampatuans made any coment to local or foreign media.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo condemned the violence and ordered her top security officials to "personally oversee military action" against those behind the killings.
"No effort will be spared to bring justice to the victims and hold the perpetrators accountable to the full limit of the law," she said in a statement. "Civilised society has no place for this kind of violence."
Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans Frontieres and the International News Safety Institute also condemned the killings.
The election process for the May 2010 national polls began last week with the filing of candidacies for more than 17,800 national and local positions.
Elections in the Philippines are usually marred by violence, especially in the south, where security forces are battling communist rebels, Islamic radicals and the clan rivalries.
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