Day of mourning declared for massacre victims

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared Thursday, November 26, 2009, as national day of mourning for the more than 50 victims in last Monday's gruesome massacre in Maguindanao province. "I am declaring a national day of mourning in honor of the victims. This crime is too outrageous not to take the conscience of the nation or any other nation for that matter," President Arroyo said in a letter read by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde. President Arroyo on Tuesday placed the entire province of Maguindanao - as well as the neighboring Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat - under emergency. As of last count Wednesday noon, a total of 52 bodies, most of them bullet-riddled, have so far been recovered from the "killing fields" in Salman village in Ampatuan town. President Arroyo said that she has already sent Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera to Maguindanao to help in the swift resolution of the case. No fear "No citizen of our nation should ever have to fear for his or her life in the expression of political will," President Arroyo said. The victims were all in a convoy bound for Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy on behalf of gubernatorial aspirant Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu. Among those killed were journalists covering the event and several motorists who happened to pass by the road where the convoy was blocked reportedly by a large group of heavily armed men allegedly associated with the Ampatuan clan. Amid clamor to investigate the Ampatuan clan, a known Arroyo ally, President Arroyo reiterated that no one would be above the law. The Mangudadatus are known political rivals of the Ampatuans. "Let the full force of the law bear upon those who are found to be responsible for this offense and be made accountable for their act," President Arroyo said. Autopsy The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has already sent doctors and forensic experts to conduct autopsy on the bodies of victims. "The purpose of the autopsy and other examination is the retrieval of physical evidence. The medical team will also determine the cause of death and how they were killed, like was it at close range or what. They will also determine the kinds of bullets," said NBI deputy director for technical services head Reynaldo Esmeralda. NBI chief Nestor Mantaring said the bureau also sent investigators to help the military and the police in probing the carnage. Mantaring tasked the National Capital Region (NCR) under lawyer Edward Villarta as the NBI lead unit. - LG/KBK, GMANews.TV