Philippines election-massacre death toll rises to 46

Emergency rule was imposed on two Philippine provinces today as security forces found more bodies from one of the worst incidents of election violence in the nation’s history, taking the death toll to 46.

Police and soldiers found another 22 bodies in a hillside mass grave, adding to the 24 near the scene of yesterday’s massacre in Maguindanao province.

The area is racked by violent political rivalries, in addition to a long-running Islamic insurgency, but the killings have shocked the nation.

One adviser to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo described the massacre as the worst in the country’s recent history.

Dozens of gunmen abducted the group of journalists, supporters and relatives of a candidate for governor as they travelled through Amputuan township to lodge candidacy documents in the provincial capital for May 2010 elections.

The candidate, Ismael Mangudadatu, who was not a part of the convoy, accused a powerful political rival from the Amputuan clan of being behind the killings. There is a long-standing bitterness between the two families.

Mr Mangudadatu’s wife, Genalyn, and his two sisters, were among the dead.

The bodies found in the grave, about six feet deep, were dumped on top of one another. They included a pregnant woman. Grieving relatives helped identify their loved ones before they were given the bodies, covered by banana leaves, for burial.

Officials were still trying to determine the exact number of people intercepted by the gunmen and whether any had survived.

Ms Arroyo declared an emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao and nearby Sultan Kudarat, allowing security forces to conduct random searches and set up checkpoints to pursue the gunmen.

Noynoy Espina, vice chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said at least 20 journalists were believed to be among those killed.

If confirmed, it would be the “largest single massacre of journalists ever”, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

National police chief Jesus Verzosa suspended Maguindanao’s provincial police chief and three other officers and confined them to camp while they are investigated.

One of the police officers was reported to have been seen in the company of the gunmen and pro-government militiamen who stopped the convoy, police said.

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 Catholic nation, and political warlords who maintain private armies.

The last elections in 2007 were considered peaceful, even though about 130 people were killed.

The decades-long Muslim insurgency has killed about 120,000 people since the 1970s.