Philippines attack most deadly ever on media

Philippine security forces found 11 more bodies on Wednesday at the site of an election-related massacre in the south of the country, taking the toll to 57 dead, officials said.Not all have been identified, but 22 of them were believed to be journalists, making Monday's attack the deadliest ever on the media anywhere in the world. Thirty-three of the victims were men and 24 were women, police said.Most of the victims sustained several gunshot wounds, and some were shot in the head. One vehicle happened to be on the same road where the politicians' and journalists' convoy were targeted. It contained Nonie Lechonsito, who was on the way to a doctor's appointment, with his wife and aides. All of them died, and Lechosito's body was found on Wednesday, along with that of his wife. A team of investigators from the Human Rights Commission visited the grave site where the victims were buried after they were shot. Authorities initially expected to retrieve around 40 bodies, and said they were shocked to find more. Police said they discovered another grave site, where they found the last five bodies late Wednesday afternoon. They also retrieved a television crew vehicle buried a few metres away. But clues leading to the murders remain elusive, police said.As of now there's no material clues or evidence that really point to the perpetrators of the crime, because it's more or less, an almost perfect crime. Maybe they just lacked, they ran out of time to bury everything, Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu said. The government has clamped emergency rule on the province of Maguindanao, where the killings took place, and in adjoining Sultan Kudarat province and Cotabato City. Truckloads of troops were brought to the area on Wednesday and armoured cars were parked along highways.President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the perpetrators will not escape justice. The army disbanded a 200-member paramilitary force under the control of local officials in Maguindanao and sent an extra 500 soldiers, pulled out from a central island in the Philippines, to reduce tension in the area.Investigators have said they will probe allegations that some members of the paramilitary force participated in the killings. The massacre has been condemned around the world. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it a heinous crime.The journalists were accompanying several women of the powerful Mangudadatu clan to file the candidacy of one of the family for the provincial governor's post in elections next year.No men from the family were present, since they believed that women would not be attacked by rivals. Their convoy was stopped by about 100 armed men, who herded them to a remote hillside and attacked them with M-16 rifles and machetes. Two of their vehicles and many bodies were thrown into a freshly-dug pit and covered with earth by an excavator. Clan feuds are common in the southern Philippines and the Mangudadatus have been at loggerheads with the Ampatuans, another local family, for months. Datu Andal Ampatuan, the patriarch of the family, has been elected governor of Maguindanao in three previous elections.The Mangudadatus have blamed supporters of the Ampatuans for the massacre, but no arrests have been made and government officials were guarded in their comments. The justice undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said they expect to file criminal complaints as soon as the investigation wraps up. They are presently getting statements and waiting for forensic reports that can give direct evidence on suspects. Both the Mangudadatu and Ampatuan families have close links to Arroyo.