MANILA - Bodies of 21 of the 44 beheaded kidnap victims, including the wife and relatives of Buluan town's vice mayor, were recovered by government troops in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province Monday afternoon.
AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. confirmed to ANC that 13 female and 8 male bodies were found by members of the 601st Infrantry Brigade of the AFP around 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Buluan vice mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu told ANC that his wife, Genalyn, his sister, and some relatives were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy on his behalf when a group of about 100 armed men abducted them.
Mangudadatu, who is running for governor of Maguindanao, said some 30 media men who went to cover the event were also seized.
Mangudadatu believes the abduction was politically motivated. He told ANC that he sent his wife and female relatives to file his certificate of candidacy in the hope that his political rivals would spare them.
He said his wife called him at around 9:30 in the morning to say an armed group, supposedly of the Ampatuan clan, a political rival, flagged down their convoy on their way to Shariff Aguak town, where the election office of the province is located.
He said his wife's parting words over the phone was about the armed men slapping them around and commanding them to swallow the certificate of candidacy forms.
He told ANC it was the Ampatuans who beheaded and mutilated the bodies of his wife, his youngest sister, a lawyer, various relatives, supporters and other civilians, after robbing them.
Family, political feud
The Mangundadatus were long-time allies of the Ampatuans, whose patriarch, Andal Ampatuan is governor of the province of Maguindanao.
Police say Andal is known to control his own private army.
However, the fact that the senior Ampatuan is no longer running for governor in 2010 has opened the field for other contenders--including Mangudadatu--to contest the top post in the province.
Brawner said there were about 100 gunmen, most of whom were militiamen deputised as government guards by Ampatuan's family.
Brawner said the leader of the militiamen who staged the kidnapping was one of Ampatuan's sons. Ampatuan was not immediately reachable for comment.
Revenge killings and clashes among rival political families are common in Maguindanao and other parts of Mindanao island, where unlicensed firearms proliferate and parts of which are lawless.
Islamic militants on Mindanao have also been waging a separatist rebellion for decades.
Mangudadatu told ANC that he will proceed with his plans to run for governor next year.
Election violence
In a radio interview, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said, "Dapat malaman kaagad ng kapulisan natin kung sino ang may kagagawan nito, para maipakita rin natin sa publiko na hindi natin mapapalagpas ang ganitong karahasan."
She added that the incident should be a warning that security is a priority in areas where election-related violence are high.
source:
http://abs-cbnnews.com
MERGED: Maguindanao Massacre and related events
Originally Posted by Paladin73
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