The season of political violence has started in south Philippines following the massacre Monday afternoon when as many as 45 people, including at least 14 journalists, may have been killed in a massacre in Maguindanao, a pre-dominantly Muslim province in the southern island of Mindanao.

Earlier reports said 13 of the 21 bullet-riddled bodies recovered by government troops in the village of Malating in the town of Ampatuan late afternoon were women although police are still verifying their identities.

Early Monday evening, however, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said all members of the six-vehicle convoy may have been killed as more bodies are being retrieved by government soldiers sent to clear the area.

Maj. Randolph Cabangabang, spokesman of of the Philippine Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) said Buluan mayor Jong Mangudadatu requested reconnasiance support from the AFP to scour a the remote village of Malating in Ampatuan town as he received reports the victims were brought there.

Using his own helicopter, Mayor Mangudadatu reportedly saw a newly dug clearing where four Toyota Grandia vans and two SUVs laid parked.  Also seen was a backhoe.

Search and rescue teams from the Philippine Army later confirmed the area as the massacre site.

The victims are all members of the party led by the wife of Buluan vice mayor Ismael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu who were on their way to the Commission on Election (Comelec) office where she was due to file the certificate of candidacy of her husband.

Toto Mangudadatu is eyeing the governorship of Maguindanao currently occupied by Andal Ampatuan.

A report from Bombo Radyo identified the wife of Toto Mangudadatu as Jennalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu who was also with her sister-in-law and Mangudadatu town vice mayor Eden Mangudadatu. 

Mangudadatu belongs to a powerful political clan that includes former Moro National Liberation Front leader and now Philippine Congress memer Pakung Mangudadatu. His cousin Teng Mangudadatu is governor of nearby Sultan Kudarat province.

Maguindanao is the bulwark of the Ampatuans.

It was not clear if among the dead bodies recovered by government troops are the journalists who accompanied the Mangudadatus.

 Earlier, reports said the journalists who joined the convoy included Manila Bulletin correspondent Bong Reblando, Ian Subang of Dadiangas Times, Marites Cablitas and Gina de la Cruz of Today, Leah Dalmacio of Forum, Neneng Montaño formerly of RGMA, Henry Araneta of dzRH, Bombo Radyo Koronadal chief reporter Bart Maravilla, Victor Nuñez of UNTV, and his cameraman identified only as Mac-mac, Joy Duhay, Romy Perante, Andy Teodoro and Jimmy Cabillo.

Unconfirmed reports said at least 22 journalists joined the convoy which was stopped by heavily armed men near Sharif Aguak, the capital town of Maguindanao.

It was not clear if they were among the dead.

There were also no reports on the fate of two women lawyers who accompanied the Mangudadatus.

The two were identified as Cynthia Oquindo and Connie Bresuela of South Cotabato and North Cotabato respectively.

Col. Medardo Geslani, commanding officer of the Philippine Army’s 601st Brigade, believed politics was behind the gruesome murder.

Maguindanao is located in the heart of Central Mindanao, some 1,100 km south of Manila.

Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton Jr., commanding general of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Awang town in Maguindanao, earlier confirmed reports that the Mangudadatus were indeed missing.

“I have already sent six armored vehicles and two companies of soldiers to nearby Ampatuan town where Mangudadatus’ convoy of three vehicles was reportedly brought by the kidnappers,” Cayton said in a mobile phone interview.

He ruled out any involvement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“We have not received intelligence report that the MILF will disrupt the ongoing filing of certificates of candidacies,” he said.

Cayton however declined to name who was responsible for the abduction.

He was later said to raise the total death in the carnage to 34 people dead.

Buluan Mayor Ismael Mangudadatu later told a radio station in Koronadal City that all 45 members of the convoy were killed.

Governor Andal Ampatuan is the governor of Maguindanao while his son, Zaldy, is also governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus are former political allies but reportedly had a recent falling out.

The Mangudadatus are also a powerful political family in nearby Sultan Kudarat province.

The governor of Sultan Kudarat is Teng Mangudadatu while his father, also a former governor, is a member of the Philippine Congress.

Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Aquiles Zonio said he was supposed to be part of the press who will cover the filing of certificate of candidacy of Toto Mangudadatu.

Another member of the local press here said they were able to contact the mobile phone of fellow reporters Bong Reblando and Bart Maravilla.

Joseph Jubelag of Mindanao Bulletin and Malaya said a Maguindanao-speaking person answered the lines but immediately put off the phone when asked the whereabouts of their colleague.

Maguindanao is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that also inlcude Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The ARMM was created as a consequence of the final peace agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which signed the Jakarta Peace Accord in 1996.