MANILA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-six persons of a group of local politicians and journalists abducted Monday in a pre-election related incident in Maguindanao, southern Philippines have been found dead, local media reported.
According to a report of the website of the Philippine Inquirer, Jenalyn, the wife of Buluan town mayor Esmail Mangudadatu; Esmail's sisters Eden, Rowena and Farida; his lawyers Cynthia Oquendo and Connie Brizuela; and Mr. Oquendo, the father of Cynthia, were among those who were abducted and killed.
Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said this group was aboard three vehicles when they were intercepted by about 100 men at the village of Saniag in Ampatuan town around 10:35 a.m.
Brawner said the victims were later brought near the camp of the Tornado Command of the Moro National Liberation Front at Salman village. This is where Army's 601st Brigade recovered the bodies, along with their vehicles, at around 4:30 p.m.
"It's barbaric. The perpetrators even raped their women hostages before killing them," Esmail told local reporters.
Esmail claimed that Andal Ampatuan Sr., Maguindanao's incumbent governor and his political rival, is behind the kidnapping.
Esmail, who will run for governor of Maguindanao in next year's elections, was supposed to file certificate of candidacy at the office of Provincial Commission on Elections. But his family offered to file the certificate of candidacy on his behalf, as Esmail has been allegedly receiving death threats from his political rival.
"We thought that they (political rivals) won't kill the women, so we sent all our female relatives, including our sisters, to file for his (Esmail's) candidacy," Madasser Mangudadato, a member of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Esmail's brother, said in a phone interview.
"But we made a big mistake because they (political rival) did not spare anyone," he said.
MANILA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza Monday urged Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare a state of emergency in the province Maguindanao to stop more bloodshed.
Dureza issued the statement shortly after military officials confirmed that 21 people, including several media men, were abducted and killed Monday in Maguindanao owing to a political rivalry.Full story
MANILA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- A national group of journalists Monday condemned the abduction of media men, lawyers and local politicians in Maguindanao, southern Philippines.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a statement, "should any harm befall our colleagues, we will hold accountable the civil and security officials of Maguindanao, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the national government for their failure to end the culture of violence and warlordism that lays waste not only to those who engage in politics but to innocent victims as well." Full story
DAVAO CITY, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen seized on Monday 40 people, including 20 journalists, in the province of Maguindanao, southern Philippines.
A local radio station reported that armed men took journalists and a group of politicians who were suppose to file their certificate of candidacy at the office of the Commission on Elections in the town of Shariff Aguak. Full story
