Cold blooded massacre : Journalists targeted in the Philippines

Massacre of a political clan that included several

journalists in the outskirts of Ampatuan, Maguindanao

in southern Philippines (photo agencies)

South Philippines : state of emergency!

Certainly one of the worst day for the profession of

journalists. Philippine authorities will resume the

search Wednesday for more victims of a massacre that

left at least 46 people dead, amid fears the death toll

could top 50, Philippines military said.

Here are the quotes of various media reports :

"The mass killings of aides and relatives of a local

politician in the southern Philippines, as well as

journalists accompanying them, occurred on Monday in

remote farming area on the volatile southern island of

Mindanao.

Military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Ponce.

"The search will continue in the general area today".

The journalists were accompanying a local political

family, the Mangudadatus, on their way to file

candidacy papers for gubernatorial elections on the

island of Mindanao. After a vicious hold up 46 people

in the traveling group were massacred, in what has now

emerged as political clan warfare.

The murderers are hiding in plain sight. Members of

the Ampatuan clan, political allies of President Gloria

Macapagal Arroyo, were seen and readily identified as

being in the gang that hijacked the Mangudadatus

convoy. The son of the governor was in the attack

gang, as was the local mayor. Pushing aside her

allegiance to the Ampatuan clan, President Arroyo has

ordered the "immediate, relentless pursuit" of the

killers.

Arroyo ally top suspect in massacre—police according to

Agence France-Presse as Police on Wednesday named a

political ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as

the prime suspect in an election-linked massacre of at

least 46 people. "According to the initial reports,

those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were

initially stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu

Unsay," national police spokesman Chief Superintendent

Leonardo Espina said. The mayor of Datu Unsay is Andal

Ampatuan Jr., a member of Arroyo's ruling

Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats coalition and

son of an extremely powerful regional politician who

has ensured local support for the president in previous

elections." (end of quotes, agencies, blogs, web)

And this dispatch :

Vendetta Linked to Election

"The murders in the southern province of Maguindanao on

Monday are thought to have beeny related to next year's

national elections, when posts from village chiefs to

the president will be up for grabs. 'This explosion of

violence arises whenever there is an election,' said

Samira Gutoc, one of the convenors of the Young Moro

Professionals, a group helping the government in peace

talks with armed Muslim groups in the south.

Indeed, dozens of people are killed each election

season in this impoverished and often lawless south

east Asian nation. Local political warlords have for

generations competed for political power and the

accompanying business riches that government posts

offer. These clans control private armies, which carry

out assassinations and attacks on rivals. The

proliferation of over 1.1 million unlicensed firearms,

most of them in the hands of rebel groups or

paramilitaries, contribute to the general lawlessness

in many remote areas, according to police. The

Telegraph (24 November)"