Update 3: Politician charged over Philippines massacre

Authorities have filed murder charges against a politician over the massacre of 57 unarmed civilians in the Philippines, state-run media reported Thursday. Andal Ampatuan Jr, who is the mayor of the town of Datu Unsayalso and the son of a Philippines provincial governor, had voluntarily turned himself in for questioning Thursday.

It was not immediately clear how many murder charges Ampatuan would face in Monday's massacre in Maguindanao province, in the southern Philippines. Five other people believed to be connected to the massacre were also being prosecuted, the state-run Philippines News Agency reported. This group includes three police officers.

Suspicion had fallen on the Ampatuan family, key allies of the Arroyo administration in the Maguindanao region of southern Mindanao province. The massacre is the worst politically motivated violence in recent Philippine history.

The man charged in the grisly killings of at least 57 people in the Philippines claimed his innocence from his jail cell, blaming instead the leader of a militant Islamic group. Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay and son of the provincial governor of Maguindanao, was charged with seven counts of murder.

Read more...

Update 2: Philippine Police Name Massacre Suspect as More Bodies Recovered

Philippine authorities have found more bodies in a shallow grave on the southern island of Mindanao, bringing the total number of victims in a massacre there to at least 57, including 18 journalists. Police have named a suspect, a member of a powerful political family, but there are doubts that authorities will bring those responsible to justice. And there are wider concerns about democracy in the Philippines.

Philippine police on Wednesday said their investigation focuses on Andal Ampatuan, Jr., a member of the powerful Ampatuan family, which dominates politics in Maguindanao province. He is suspected of being behind one of the worst cases of election violence in the history of the Philippines and the most journalists murdered in a single attack.

The victims were in a convoy of vehicles Monday heading to register a candidate to challenge Ampatuan in next year's election for governor. Among the dead are the wife and sisters of the challenger, Ismael Mangudadatu.

Amina Rasul is the director of the Philippines Council for Islam and Democracy. She says despite the police investigation it will be difficult for authorities to enter Ampatuan territory, let alone arrest a member of the family.

Read more...

Update: Death toll of Philippines massacre reaches at least 46

A police official says 11 more bodies have been unearthed from a mass grave in the southern Philippines, bringing the death toll from a massacre of political supporters and journalists to 46. Police Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna says 11 bodies were recovered before sundown Tuesday from a hillside grave. Eleven other victims were discovered there earlier in the day.

Police said a convoy of about 40 people was going to register Ismael Mangudadatu, vice mayor of Buluan township, Monday to run for provincial governor when they were stopped by about 100 gunmen. Soldiers and police found 24 bullet-riddled bodies Monday including those of Mangudadatu's wife Genalyn and his two sisters.

Previously, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two southern provinces under a state of emergency. The emergency measures, including checkpoints and random searches by authorities, will remain in place until the president is confident that law and order have been restored in the region

Read more...

Gunmen Kill 21 In Philippines Over Political Rivalry

Philippine troops found 21 bodies in the country's restive south

after dozens of gunmen on Monday hijacked a convoy of politicians and supporters filing their nominations for next year's elections, officials said.

The victims, 13 women and eight men, were found in southern Ampatuan township, 3 miles from where they were taken hostage as they traveled in three vans earlier Monday, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton said. The identities of the gunmen were unclear but victims' relatives blamed political rivals.

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 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."

• "Philippines Political Violence leaves 21 dead", BBC News, 11/23/09.
  
• "Terrorism Havens: Philippines", Council on Foreign Relations, 6/1/09.
• "Abu Sayyaf Group", Council on Foreign Relations, 5/27/09.
• "The Philippines: Running in Place in Mindanao", International Crisis Group, 2/16/09.
  
• "Treading Softly in the Philippines", The Weekly Standard, 1/5/09.
• "The Philippines: Counter-insurgency vs. Counter-terrorism in Mindanao", International Crisis Group, 5/14/08.
• "Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)", New York Times Topics Website.
  

Read more...