Mayor now charged with 56 counts of murder

Published on Monday 21 December 2009 21:46

GOVERNMENT prosecutors yesterday filed 16 more murder charges against the member of a powerful clan who allegedly led last month's massacre of political rivals and journalists in the southern Philippines.

At least 57 people were killed with guns and machetes, many of their bodies buried by digger, on 23 November in southern Maguidanao province. One body remains unidentified, preventing an indictment, but Andal Ampatuan jnr, a town mayor, has now been charged with the other 56, senior state prosecutor Leo Decera III said.

Among those killed were 30 journalists and their staff. The carnage has sparked international outrage, prompting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to briefly impose martial law in Maguindanao.

Ampatuan's father, who heads the clan, and several other close relatives have also been accused of involvement in the killings but have yet to be indicted. The clan have denied any role in the massacre.

The International Crisis Group said yesterday that Arroyo's political backing of the Ampatuans, who helped her win crucial Maguindanao votes during the 2004 elections, has allowed the warlord clan to flourish dangerously for years in Maguindanao, a predominantly Muslim province about 560 miles south of Manila.

Arroyo's aides have acknowledged her alliance with the Ampatuans but said that did not authorise the clan to commit any crime.