MANILA, Philippines — Gunmen ambushed a caravan of political supporters and journalists on their way to file election papers Monday, killing at least 24 people in a massacre considered shocking even for a region notorious for violence between rival clans.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said at least 10 local reporters were part of the convoy. Their newspapers and radio stations have not been able to reach them, raising fears that they were killed. If confirmed, it would be the “largest single massacre of journalists ever,” according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
The president’s office called the attack the worst political violence in recent history.
Police said the convoy of 40 people was going to register Ismael Mangudadatu to run for provincial governor when they were stopped by some 100 gunmen and taken to a remote mountainous area.
Soldiers and police found 21 bodies, including those of Mangudadatu’s wife, Genalyn, and his two sisters, about 3 miles from where they were ambushed, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner. Three more bodies were recovered early today.
Mangudadatu, deputy mayor of the town of Buluan and a political rival of the current governor of Maguindanao province, said his wife called him by mobile phone shortly before she and her entourage were abducted.
The five vans being used by the group were found abandoned. The army and police were searching for the missing people, Brawner said.
