The military chief in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao took over as local governor after martial law was imposed on Saturday, following the country's worst election-related crime last month. Police took five members of the Ampatuan political clan, including the patriarch who is a close ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and other officials for questioning on the massacre of 57 people, more than half of whom were journalists.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the government suspended civil rights in the province, for the first time in nearly three decades, after receiving reports armed groups loyal to local mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr were massing in the area to launch a rebellion against his arrest last week.
Ampatuan Jr. is the main suspect in the killings on November 23 when members of a rival political clan were attacked while they were on their way to file the candidacy of one of their leaders for elections next year. The Ampatuan family has ruled in Muslim-dominated Maguindanao for nearly a decade.
"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, the Ampatuan patriarch was taken by security forces to Davao City where he later felt chest pains and a headache and was moved to a private hospital.
His son Zaldy, governor of the five-province ARMM region in southern Philippines, was brought outside his region to General Santos for questioning. They were both taken out of Maguindanao to prevent violence and pave the way for an impartial probe. Officials said government workers in the province, including judges, have not been coming to work, most fearing reprisals from the Ampatuan clan.
The killings raised tensions ahead of the elections set for May and were condemned by local and international media and human rights groups. But Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer, chief of the eastern Mindanao command who took over as Maguindanao governor, said there was no need to impose curfew in the province.
Soldiers found more than 100 boxes of bullets for assault rifles at a grain warehouse in Shariff Aguak, where an armoured vehicle, a humvee, an army truck and three police cars were also kept, Jesus Verzosa, national police chief, told reporters. About 20 members of a civilian militia force were disarmed and placed under military custody, he added.
Major General Gaudencio Pangilinan, deputy chief of staff, said in Manila: "Our job there is to return normalcy as soon as we can ... Right now there is a complete breakdown of the function of the government in the area." Pangilinan told Reuters houses of known Ampatuan supporters were raided as soldiers searched for weapons used in the massacre. A Reuters photographer on the scene saw dozens of civilians fleeing their homes in Ampatuan town, where troops set up road blocks and checkpoints every 500 metres along the highway.
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