Manila, Dec 05: Philippine authorities imposed martial law on Saturday in the southern province of Maguindanao to prevent further violence after last month’s massacre of 57 people in the country’s worst election-related crime.
The government also suspended civil rights in the province, for the first time in nearly three decades, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters.
The declaration was made after authorities received reports armed groups loyal to local mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, the main suspect in the massacre of members of a rival political clan, were massing in the area to launch a rebellion against his arrest.
“These are large forces that could really undertake violent actions against anybody in the province. By their sheer number, they are really a threat to the security of the province,” General Victor Ibrado, head of the armed forces, told reporters.
Earlier security forces took the patriarch of the powerful political family, Datu Andal Ampatuan, and his governor son into military custody after he and several members of his clan were linked to the murders.
The family has ruled in Muslim-dominated Maguindanao for nearly a decade, and the patriarch is a close ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
On Nov.23, gunmen attacked a convoy of the wife, sisters and relatives of a politician planning to run against Ampatuan Jr. in elections next year, and their escort composed of lawyers and journalists.
Fifty-seven bodies were later found off the highway, some on a grassy hillside and some buried in a hastily dug pit, all bearing gunshot wounds.
Ermita said the discovery of a large cache of weapons within and near the Ampatuans’ mansions in the province had also led to the imposition of martial law.
Officials said martial law, which stokes fears of human rights violations, would be in effect for 60 days or less depending on the situation in the area.
Cerge Remonde, press secretary, said the martial law order was also a response to the cry for justice by the families of the massacre victims, adding there was a break down in the provincial judiciary with several judges taking leave due to death threats.
But political analyst Benito Lim told radio the measure was not necessary because the government had already deployed a 5,000-strong security force in Maguindanao, enough to quell any violence by the Ampatuans and their supporters.
–Agencies