Philippine massacre probe focuses on Arroyo ally

Officials recovered six more bodies Wednesday, bringing the death toll in Monday's attack on an election caravan to 52, including 18 journalists.

No suspects have been formally named in the killings, which provoked outrage beyond the Philippines, with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and media and human rights watchdogs calling on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to swiftly punish the attackers.

Arroyo vowed justice for the victims and declared a national day of mourning for them.

"This is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation," she said in a statement. "The perpetrators will not escape justice. The law will haunt them until they are caught."

The bodies were found sprawled a few miles (kilometers) off the main highway in southern Maguindanao province on a remote hilltop, and in two nearby mass graves. Two entire vehicles — a sedan and a van — were also buried in one of the graves, regional police Commander Josefino Cataluna said.

The vehicles were crushed by a large backhoe that ran over and buried them, crime investigator Jose Garcia said.

The dead included the family of gubernatorial candidate Ismael Mangudadatu and 18 Filipino journalists who were accompanying the caravan to file his election papers — the highest number of reporters killed in a single attack anywhere in the world, according to media groups.

Mangudadatu, after receiving death threats, sent his wife and relatives instead. He wanted to challenge a candidate from a rival clan, Andal Ampatuan Jr., whose family has ruled the province unopposed since 2001 with an iron fist backed up by private armies and legions of bodyguards.

Mangudadatu said four witnesses in his protection, whom he refused to identify, told him the convoy was stopped by dozens of gunmen loyal to Ampatuan, currently a town mayor. Mangudadatu's wife, two sisters and other relatives were killed.

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