Birada Mindanao News Daily

Deadly election attack in Philippine massacre province

Thursday, 15 Apr, 2010

Police investigators look for evidence next to the dead body of a local political party supporter after a grenade attack at the political gathering at a resort in Cotabato in the Philippines southern island of Mindanao. The grenade attack on the political gathering left one man dead and 14 wounded in the same area of the Philippines where 57 people were massacred last year. The attack on the meeting of politicians was linked to national elections, said provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses. – AFP Photo

COTABATO: A grenade attack on a political gathering left two people dead and 12 wounded in the same area of the Philippines where 57 people were massacred last year, police said Thursday.

The attack on a meeting at a resort in the southern province of Maguindanao late Wednesday was linked to next month’s national elections, said provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses.

A mayoral and vice-mayoral candidate were meeting with supporters when two men aboard a motorcycle threw a grenade over the resort fence where it exploded. The candidates were unharmed, said Lineses.

The attack came despite tight security that has been imposed on Maguindanao after 57 people were massacred there in November allegedly by gunmen working for the Ampatuans, a powerful political clan.

The November massacre was carried out allegedly to keep a rival from running against a member of the Ampatuan family, and the province remains under a state of emergency.

However the latest attack is not believed to be linked to the November massacre. Elections in the Philippines are usually accompanied by a surge in violence as politicians use force to intimidate or eliminate their rivals.

The national police said it had recorded a total of 53 cases of election-related violence with 26 deaths and 25 wounded since January, excluding the victims from the new grenade blast.

The party of presidential front-runner Benigno Aquino criticised the national police for not doing enough to stop a rash of attacks on its followers.

Twelve members of Aquino’s Liberal Party have been murdered since January in the south, a party statement said.

“The killings must stop now,” vice-presidential candidate Mar Roxas said in the statement. – AFP

November 23, 2009

Dead bodies lie on the ground near their vehicles at the crime scene of a massacre of a political clan that included several journalists in the outskirts of Ampatuan, Maguindanao in southern Philippines November 24, 2009. The Philippines sacked the provincial police chief and sent hundreds of extra troops to a southern region on Tuesday where gunmen killed at least 24 people in the worst-ever election related violence in the country. On Monday, about 100 gunmen abducted a group of people going to file a nomination for the provincial governor’s post in Maguindanao. A group of about 40 people, including women and local journalists, were taken away by gunmen who opened fire on them, investigators said. A local leader said four survivors were in hiding.

Police officers secure an area where bodies were recovered along a hillside grave in Datu Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, southern Philippines, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two souuthern provinces under a state of emergency, giving security forces free hand to pursue gunmen who killed at least 46 people in one of the country’s worst election massacres.

Filipinos carry a dead massacre victim along a hillside grave in Datu Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, southern Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two souuthern provinces under a state of emergency, giving security forces free hand to pursue gunmen who killed at least 46 people in one of the country’s worst election massacres.

A police officer uses banana leaves to cover bodies which they recovered from a hillside grave in Datu Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, southern Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two souuthern provinces under a state of emergency, giving security forces free hand to pursue gunmen who killed at least 24 people in one of the country’s worst election massacres.

They Cried JUSTICE!