Death toll in Philippine political massacre at 52

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a regional military spokesman, said the vehicles and bodies were found at a second burial site in Salman village in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

 Police officers and soldiers earlier found 22 bodies littered around the hilly area where the killings occurred on Monday, while 25 were unearthed from a shallow grave on Tuesday.

 Ponce said one of the buried vehicles was the service van of UNTV, a local television station, whose three news crew members were killed in the massacre blamed on political rivalry between two prominent clans in Maguindanao.

 Amid mounting calls for the government to immediately arrest members of the Ampatuan family allegedly behind the horrific crime, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called for calm while promising  that the perpetrators would not escape justice.

 "Let us hope that the outrage is overcome by reason and by our need to live our lives in peace, honour and human dignity," she said. "In all of this, the rule of law, the guarantee of equal protection under and equal application of the law, and the observance of due process and all legal processes shall prevail."

   "Let the full force of the law bear upon those who are found to be responsible for this offence and be made accountable for their acts," she said.

 Presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde earlier said that investigators must build a strong case against the Ampatuan family, close allies of Arroyo, before any arrests could be made.

 "We have due process to be observed also, so let us allow the investigators on the ground to come up with a case through their investigation," he said.

 Remonde assured the public that all those behind the massacre would be arrested and prosecuted.

 "It's a very big embarrassment, not only to the government, but also to the entire nation," he said.

 The victims, who were shot multiple times at close range, were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for Maguindanao governor in next year's elections.

 They included Mangudadatu's wife, two sisters, two human rights lawyers and at least 27 local journalists who were covering the event.

 Mangudadatu's candidacy would pit him against the son of incumbent Governor Andal Ampatuan Senior, who had run unopposed in three previous elections.

 Mangudadatu said his wife told him before she was killed that they were being held by 100 gunmen allegedly led by Mayor Andal Ampatuan Junior on the orders of his father.

 "I am frustrated that no suspects have been arrested," he said. "If the suspects were ordinary persons, they would have been detained by now. Now that a big fish committed a gruesome crime, they cannot make arrests. Is the government afraid?"

   The international community has condemned the murders, which United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called a "heinous crime."

   Ban said he hoped "that no effort will be spared to bring justice and to hold the perpetrators accountable."

   On Tuesday, Arroyo declared emergency rule in Maguindanao, the nearby province of Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City to give security forces a free hand in going after the perpetrators.

 But political analysts have expressed doubts Arroyo would come down hard on the Ampatuans, who have been key allies of the government especially in previous elections.

 The Philippines is due to hold presidential and national elections in May. Elections in the country have traditionally been marred by violence, despite additional gun restrictions imposed during the campaign and polling periods.