Deaths In Philippine Election Massacre Now At 57

November 25, 2009 11:53 a.m. EST

Mindanao, Philippines (AHN) - Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Wednesday by authorities investigating the massacre of journalists, family members and security personnel of a gubernatorial candidate in the southern province of Maguindanao. A political rival is believed to have hired armed men to execute the victims, which include a pregnant woman and local city officials who just so happened to be at the same place as the targets.

The wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Toto Mangudadatu was on her way on Monday to the local Commission on Elections office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, to file her husband's certificate of candidacy for governor. She was in a convoy of six vans carrying two lawyers, about 30 journalists and members of her family.

Her body was one of 22 corpses recovered later that day. Authorities say about 100 armed men stopped the convoy that morning in Barangay Saniag, and led it to an area 10 kilometers from the national highway in Barangay Malating. The victims were buried in graves after being gunned down.

On Tuesday, 24 more bodies were found, including those of civilians and Tacurong city officials who were not part of the convoy but traveling the highway at the time. The death toll now stands at 57 and may continue to rise.

Some of the bodies were found buried while still inside the vans. Some reportedly show signs of having been hacked and raped. One of the victims is believed to be pregnant.

A bulldozer with a label indicating it is the property of the Maguindanao provincial government was found parked near where the bodies were recovered. Officials say the machine may have been used by the suspects to dig graves.

Mangudadatu is seeking to succeed Andal Ampatuan to be the next governor of Maguindanao, a province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that is ruled by powerful clans. He has accused the Ampatuans for the attack, citing a text message from his wife hours before she was found dead.

In addition to the prevalence of private political armies, the province is part of a region that has seen centuries of strife between Muslims and Christians, who make the majority in Asia's first Roman Catholic nation. A separatist movement was successfully halted with a peace agreement in 1996 with the Moro National Liberation Front. However, the insurgency has continued with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf, a group known to behead its victims and that has been classified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.

Ampatuan has not issued any statement since the killings. His son, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., was said to have been planning to run to succeed him and reportedly led the attack on the convoy.

Members of the local police force in the area have been relieved of duty on suspicions that they participated in the executions. The Army has also disbanded a paramilitary force that it said may have been involved.

The government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao, as well as in Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat, but has come under fire for its failure to arrest any suspects. Fears of a whitewash are rife despite assurances from officials that the President holds alliances with both the Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans.

The Arroyo administration said on Wednesday it would name suspects "soon." Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also called on Ampatuan

Jr. to surrender. "It definitely will help if those who feel that they are already being considered as suspects to turn themselves in and cooperate with the law enforcement agencies," Ermita said in a press briefing.

"I think the Mangudadato family has no plan, I don't think they are intending to use force in the resolution of this case," Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales also said on Tuesday.

The massacre has been condemned Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders. It occurred six months before Arroyo, who suffers falling approval ratings, leaves office.