GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines — Philippine troops took the patriarch of a powerful clan — a former governor — into custody today after the president put his southern province under martial law to hunt down suspects in the country’s worst political violence.
The head of the clan, Andal Ampatuan Sr., and at least six other family members who have ruled impoverished Maguindanao province unopposed for years, are the main suspects in the Nov. 23 attack on a political rival’s convoy in which 57 people, including 30 journalists, were killed.
Ampatuan’s son, Andal Jr., turned himself in last week and was charged with multiple counts of murder.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today put Maguindanao under martial law, allowing troops to make arrests without court warrants and restore order, her top Cabinet member, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, told reporters.
Soldiers have already seized stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in raids on homes belonging to the Ampatuans.
Armed forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said Ampatuan Sr., a three-term provincial governor, and his son Zaldy, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which includes Maguindanao, were taken into military custody early today.
The family has denied any involvement in the killings.
Those killed in the massacre included the wife, sisters and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, who had sent them to submit his candidacy papers for governor, challenging the Ampatuan clan’s iron-fisted control of the province.
Thirty journalists and their staff — the highest number of reporters slain in a single attack anywhere in the world — also were killed in the attack.The Ampatuan clan has been notorious for running a large private army purportedly for protection against Muslim separatist rebels.
