Last week's massacre was the country's worst election-related violence [AFP]
The Philippines has imposed martial law in the southern province of Maguindanao where 57 people were killed last week in the country's worst election-related violence.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the country’s president, said on Saturday she had ordered martial law in the province as "heavily armed groups [in the area] have established positions to resist government troops".
The move allows troops to make arrests without court warrants and restore order, Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo's top cabinet member, said.
He told reporters that the declaration was made following reports armed groups were planning to launch drastic action after a local mayor was arrested in connection with the massacre.
It is the first time in 28 years that such a drastic measure had been imposed anywhere in the country.
Arrests
Within hours of martial law being declared, special forces stormed into the home of Andal Ampatuan Sr, the local governor, and took him into custody, the military said.
"He was taken at 2am [18:00 GMT on Friday] by Special Action Forces. He did not resist [arrest]," Major Randolph Cabangbang, the regional military spokesman, said.
Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the Ampatuan Sr's sons and the governor of an autonomous area in the southern Philippines, was also taken into custody on Saturday morning, according to the military.
Andal Ampatuan Jr, another son of the clan patriarch, is already languishing in a Manila detention centre after being charged with 25 counts of murder for the November 23 massacre that took place in a remote area of Maguindanao.
Police allege Ampatuan Jr and 100 of his gunmen shot dead the occupants of a convoy that included relatives of his rival for the post of Maguindanao governor in next year's elections, as well as a group of journalists.
Esmael Mangudadatu, Ampatuan's rival, said the killings were carried out to stop him from running for office.
Ampatuan Sr had ruled the strife-torn province since 2001 with the backing of his own private army, as well as the support of Arroyo's ruling coalition, and installed his family members into a myriad of government positions.
He had been grooming his son and namesake, a local mayor, to succeed him as governor.
Jesus Verzosa, the national police chief, said on Saturday that at least three other members of the Ampatuan clan were also wanted for their suspected links to the massacre.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/12/200912505810264927.html
--------------
Profile: Andal Ampatuan Jr
Andal Ampatuan Jr, centre, has denied any responsibility for the mass killings [Reuters]
The man named by the police in the Philippines as the chief suspect in Monday's massacre, Andal Ampatuan Jr, is considered by many to be the "hatchet man" of a powerful southern political clan.
Said to be in his 40s, Ampatuan Jr, who is the mayor of the town of Datu Unsayalso and the son of a provincial governor, voluntarily turned himself in for questioning on Thursday.
He surrendered to the authorities after being implicated by the police in the deaths of 57 people - allegedly targeted to end a political challenge from a rival clan.
The Ampatuan family is an important ally of the Arroyo administration in the Maguindanao region of southern Mindanao province.
Fearful reputation
Ampatuan Jr has denied having a role in the killings.
But Ampatuan, and his father, have long had reputations for using fear and violence to stifle opponents and expand their power, according to the country's senior human-rights officials and others who have knowledge about the family.
"The Maguindanao political warlords are really the ones giving crucial, or swing votes, to administration candidates," Leila de Lima, the chairwoman of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, told the AFP news agency.
She said the Ampatuan family "act like Gods" in Maguindanao.
De Lima is a former election lawyer who once represented an official who lost to an Ampatuan family member in the 2007 congressional vote allegedly through fraud.
She said the local population was fearful of the Ampatuans, noting that there had been similar, but smaller-scale killings, in recent years that had been linked to the family.
Reporters in the region also said many people lived in fear of the clan.
"No one here dares to go against the Ampatuans," said one local journalist on Mindanao island, which is part of Maguindanao.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of his own life, the reporter said Ampatuan Jr had a reputation for violence.
"It is public knowledge that he is the 'hatchet man' for the family," said the reporter, who has covered the clan's rise to power.
"He and his armed bodyguards would kill at the slightest provocation."
Describing Maguindanao massacre, the military said about 100 of Ampatuan's men abducted some of his rival's relatives and aides, plus a group of journalists, and shot them at close range.
Fifty-seven people have been confirmed killed, with nearly half of the victims believed to be journalists.
Ampatuans' 'iron fist'
The Ampatuans belong to an old warrior lineage in Maguindanao, and local press reports say their forefathers fought against the Spanish and American colonisers as well as Japanese invaders over the centuries.
Muslims on Mindanao island have a history of resisting outside rulers, a tradition that continues today with a campaign that has claimed more than 150,000 lives since the late 1970s, according to military figures.
Many Ampatuan clan members also fought military repression during the martial law rule of Ferdinand Marcos, according to Julkipli Wadi, an Islamic studies scholar at the University of the Philippines.
Their rise to political prominence came when Andal Ampatuan Sr was named officer-in-charge of the province after the Marcos presidency collapsed in 1986, Wadi told AFP.
He eventually was elected governor in 2001, and has since consolidated his grip on power by stockpiling arms and co-opting pro-government militia members deputised to fight against armed groups, he said.
"The Ampatuans are the political warlords in the area. Any attempt at politics by a rival family they consider as threat to their rule is violently cut short," Wadi said.
"They shared power among themselves, ruling with an iron fist in Maguindanao, backed up by their huge armoury."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/11/200911261411748918.html
--------------------
Witness: 'We just followed orders'
A man who says he was a witness to Monday's massacre in the southern Philippines has told Al Jazeera how he was ordered to kill members of a rival political clan - including women and children - and to make sure no evidence was left behind.
The witness, who identified himself only as "Boy", said he was among more than 100 armed men who held up a convoy of political campaigners and journalists before taking them to a remote mountainous area where they were then killed.
Speaking to Al Jazeera's correspondent Marga Ortigas, "Boy" said the orders had come directly from Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local mayor and a member of a politically powerful local with close ties to the Philippines president.
"Datu Andal himself said, he said to us: anyone from the Mangudadatu clan - women or children - should be killed... We don't ask why, we just followed orders."
"Someone called and said soldiers were on their way"
"Boy"
Witness to massacre
At least 57 people died in the massacre, believed to be the worst ever politically-related killings in the Philippines.
"Boy", who is now in hiding fearing his life is in danger, said all of the women in the group had been raped before being killed.
Their bodies were then dumped in mass graves that had already been dug out in advance using an excavator.
He said that Ampatuan Jr had also ordered that the reporters accompanying the convoy should also be killed to cover-up what had happened.
Warning
"That too was ordered by Datu Andal… because they didn't want any evidence left behind," he said.
At least 57 people died in the Philippines worst politically-related massacre [Reuters]
"Boy" said the whole process had lasted little more than an hour before the gunmen had to abruptly abandon the scene following a warning that members of the military were nearby.
"We didn't get to finish, which is why the excavator was left there," he said.
"Someone called and said soldiers were on their way. I feel they have connections among the soldiers."
Speaking with his face covered to his identity, "Boy" said he was supposed to have been an active participant in the massacre but did not actually kill any of the victims.
He said he would have been shot if he had tried to intervene.
"I was just standing there," he said "I was all alone… I could only leave it up to my conscience."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/11/2009112654959580381.html
The Philippines has imposed martial law in the southern province of Maguindanao where 57 people were killed last week in the country's worst election-related violence.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the country’s president, said on Saturday she had ordered martial law in the province as "heavily armed groups [in the area] have established positions to resist government troops".
The move allows troops to make arrests without court warrants and restore order, Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo's top cabinet member, said.
He told reporters that the declaration was made following reports armed groups were planning to launch drastic action after a local mayor was arrested in connection with the massacre.
It is the first time in 28 years that such a drastic measure had been imposed anywhere in the country.
Arrests
Within hours of martial law being declared, special forces stormed into the home of Andal Ampatuan Sr, the local governor, and took him into custody, the military said.
"He was taken at 2am [18:00 GMT on Friday] by Special Action Forces. He did not resist [arrest]," Major Randolph Cabangbang, the regional military spokesman, said.
Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the Ampatuan Sr's sons and the governor of an autonomous area in the southern Philippines, was also taken into custody on Saturday morning, according to the military.
Andal Ampatuan Jr, another son of the clan patriarch, is already languishing in a Manila detention centre after being charged with 25 counts of murder for the November 23 massacre that took place in a remote area of Maguindanao.
Police allege Ampatuan Jr and 100 of his gunmen shot dead the occupants of a convoy that included relatives of his rival for the post of Maguindanao governor in next year's elections, as well as a group of journalists.
Esmael Mangudadatu, Ampatuan's rival, said the killings were carried out to stop him from running for office.
Ampatuan Sr had ruled the strife-torn province since 2001 with the backing of his own private army, as well as the support of Arroyo's ruling coalition, and installed his family members into a myriad of government positions.
He had been grooming his son and namesake, a local mayor, to succeed him as governor.
Jesus Verzosa, the national police chief, said on Saturday that at least three other members of the Ampatuan clan were also wanted for their suspected links to the massacre.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/12/200912505810264927.html
--------------
Profile: Andal Ampatuan Jr
Andal Ampatuan Jr, centre, has denied any responsibility for the mass killings [Reuters]
The man named by the police in the Philippines as the chief suspect in Monday's massacre, Andal Ampatuan Jr, is considered by many to be the "hatchet man" of a powerful southern political clan.
Said to be in his 40s, Ampatuan Jr, who is the mayor of the town of Datu Unsayalso and the son of a provincial governor, voluntarily turned himself in for questioning on Thursday.
He surrendered to the authorities after being implicated by the police in the deaths of 57 people - allegedly targeted to end a political challenge from a rival clan.
The Ampatuan family is an important ally of the Arroyo administration in the Maguindanao region of southern Mindanao province.
Fearful reputation
Ampatuan Jr has denied having a role in the killings.
But Ampatuan, and his father, have long had reputations for using fear and violence to stifle opponents and expand their power, according to the country's senior human-rights officials and others who have knowledge about the family.
"The Maguindanao political warlords are really the ones giving crucial, or swing votes, to administration candidates," Leila de Lima, the chairwoman of the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, told the AFP news agency.
She said the Ampatuan family "act like Gods" in Maguindanao.
De Lima is a former election lawyer who once represented an official who lost to an Ampatuan family member in the 2007 congressional vote allegedly through fraud.
She said the local population was fearful of the Ampatuans, noting that there had been similar, but smaller-scale killings, in recent years that had been linked to the family.
Reporters in the region also said many people lived in fear of the clan.
"No one here dares to go against the Ampatuans," said one local journalist on Mindanao island, which is part of Maguindanao.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of his own life, the reporter said Ampatuan Jr had a reputation for violence.
"It is public knowledge that he is the 'hatchet man' for the family," said the reporter, who has covered the clan's rise to power.
"He and his armed bodyguards would kill at the slightest provocation."
Describing Maguindanao massacre, the military said about 100 of Ampatuan's men abducted some of his rival's relatives and aides, plus a group of journalists, and shot them at close range.
Fifty-seven people have been confirmed killed, with nearly half of the victims believed to be journalists.
Ampatuans' 'iron fist'
The Ampatuans belong to an old warrior lineage in Maguindanao, and local press reports say their forefathers fought against the Spanish and American colonisers as well as Japanese invaders over the centuries.
Muslims on Mindanao island have a history of resisting outside rulers, a tradition that continues today with a campaign that has claimed more than 150,000 lives since the late 1970s, according to military figures.
Many Ampatuan clan members also fought military repression during the martial law rule of Ferdinand Marcos, according to Julkipli Wadi, an Islamic studies scholar at the University of the Philippines.
Their rise to political prominence came when Andal Ampatuan Sr was named officer-in-charge of the province after the Marcos presidency collapsed in 1986, Wadi told AFP.
He eventually was elected governor in 2001, and has since consolidated his grip on power by stockpiling arms and co-opting pro-government militia members deputised to fight against armed groups, he said.
"The Ampatuans are the political warlords in the area. Any attempt at politics by a rival family they consider as threat to their rule is violently cut short," Wadi said.
"They shared power among themselves, ruling with an iron fist in Maguindanao, backed up by their huge armoury."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/11/200911261411748918.html
--------------------
Witness: 'We just followed orders'
A man who says he was a witness to Monday's massacre in the southern Philippines has told Al Jazeera how he was ordered to kill members of a rival political clan - including women and children - and to make sure no evidence was left behind.
The witness, who identified himself only as "Boy", said he was among more than 100 armed men who held up a convoy of political campaigners and journalists before taking them to a remote mountainous area where they were then killed.
Speaking to Al Jazeera's correspondent Marga Ortigas, "Boy" said the orders had come directly from Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local mayor and a member of a politically powerful local with close ties to the Philippines president.
"Datu Andal himself said, he said to us: anyone from the Mangudadatu clan - women or children - should be killed... We don't ask why, we just followed orders."
"Someone called and said soldiers were on their way"
"Boy"
Witness to massacre
At least 57 people died in the massacre, believed to be the worst ever politically-related killings in the Philippines.
"Boy", who is now in hiding fearing his life is in danger, said all of the women in the group had been raped before being killed.
Their bodies were then dumped in mass graves that had already been dug out in advance using an excavator.
He said that Ampatuan Jr had also ordered that the reporters accompanying the convoy should also be killed to cover-up what had happened.
Warning
"That too was ordered by Datu Andal… because they didn't want any evidence left behind," he said.
At least 57 people died in the Philippines worst politically-related massacre [Reuters]
"Boy" said the whole process had lasted little more than an hour before the gunmen had to abruptly abandon the scene following a warning that members of the military were nearby.
"We didn't get to finish, which is why the excavator was left there," he said.
"Someone called and said soldiers were on their way. I feel they have connections among the soldiers."
Speaking with his face covered to his identity, "Boy" said he was supposed to have been an active participant in the massacre but did not actually kill any of the victims.
He said he would have been shot if he had tried to intervene.
"I was just standing there," he said "I was all alone… I could only leave it up to my conscience."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/11/2009112654959580381.html
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