MANILA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Friday gave to "go" signal for suspension of local officials, police and military commanders in the volatile southern Philippines after a prominent local clan leader was arrested as the prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said at the weekly press briefing that Interior Secretary Rolando Puno will be responsible for appointing the officers-in-charge of Maguindanao province, where the family of the governor was tagged as the prime suspect.
Remonde said the national government has more control now of Maguindanao and other provinces in the Muslim Mindanao.
On Monday, a six-vehicle election caravan of relatives, supporters of Buluan town vice mayor Esmail Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists, was ambushed on their way to register the town mayor as the governor candidate in next year's provincial election.
Around 100 militiamen herded the Mangudadatu group to a remote area and shot them at close range with M-16 rifles and machetes. By Thursday, 57 bodies have been recovered.
Magundadatu's arch rival in next year's provincial election, Andal Ampatuan Jr. -- a prominent member of the powerful Ampatuan clan -- was named a prime suspect in Monday's massacre and has been put in custody awaiting police charges.
Ampatuan Jr.'s father -- Andal Ampatuan Sr. -- is the family patriarch and three-time governor of Maguindanao. He intends to hand over the post to his son in 2010 elections and Esmail's challenge to the family's dominance in the province is cited by local media and political analysts as a main reason prompting Monday's massacre.
The Ampatuans wield a considerably clout in the Muslim Mindanao and own a hundreds-strong private army. The volatile region is notorious for loose arms and a decades-old insurgency war between government troops and Muslim rebels.
"The President made it very very clear to give the marching orders to really apply the full force of the law and put behind the resources and machinery of government to give justice to the victims of these massacre," Remonde said.
He said government efforts are now focused on restoring peace in Maguindanao, gathering evidence and securing witnesses and their families.
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said the government is determined to pursue the ends of justice without fear or favor.
The ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party has expelled the Ampatuan Jr., his father and a brother from its ranks.
The military on Thursday took control of the capital and municipality halls in several key towns in Maguindanao province and started to disarm hundreds of the para-military soldiers loyal to the Ampatuan family.
The Armed Forces leadership Friday also ordered the relief of two ground commanders to give way to an impartial and transparent investigation, a top military spokesman said.
In the past two days, six senior provincial police officials have been suspended from work and around 400 police officers were invited for questioning.
