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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.
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 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 comment 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.
