Ampatuan Sr., sons, taken into government custody

(Updated 12:58 a.m.) Following the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao province Saturday, security forces have taken into custody several local government officials including clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his three sons in connection with the massacre in Ampatuan town last week. Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu, who heads the investigation of the Maguindanao massacre, told GMANews.TV that the two are in the provincial police headquarters in Maguindanao for questioning. "They are in government custody pati maraming elected officials. Mayroon lang kaming mga importanteng tanong sa kanila(They are in government custody as well as other elected officials. We just have a few important questions to ask them)," Khu said. Khu said Andal Sr. was taken into government custody at about 11 p.m. Friday, some two hours after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the martial law proclamation in the southern Philippine province due to the "imminent security threat" in the area. Government forces have been pouring into Maguindanao since last week following the killing of 57 people in Ampatuan last November 23 by alleged militiamen. Andal Sr., however, first had to be brought to the Davao Doctors Hospital in Davao City after his blood pressure shot up, a television report quoted Col. Oscar Lactao, chief of Task Force Davao, as saying. Lactao said the former governor was rushed to the medical facility aboard an ambulance at about 6:27 a.m. and is currently resting. Lactao said he could not tell when Andal Sr. might be discharged from the hospital, but assured that military security around the hospital would remain tight. Meanwhile, Zaldy - who is the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) - and his brothers, acting Governor Sajid Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak mayor Anwar, were brought to the provincial police headquarters in Maguindanao. GMA News reporter Jun Veneracion said Sajid initially requested that he be given more time to talk to his family and speak with his lawyers before being brought to the police headquarters. Aside from the three brothers, Maguindanao vice governor Akhmad Ampatuan, Andal Sr's nephew, is also undergoing police interrogation. Khu clarified that the local officials were "not arrested nor restricted" but were merely invited for questioning. "Hindi sila nakaposas. Kinausap namin sila nang tahimik at mahusay," Khu said. From Shariff Aguak, the Ampatuans will be taken to Davao City to undergo further investigation. The Army's 64th Infantry Battalion has already taken over the municipal halls of Datu Unsay, Datu Piang, and Datu Saudi Ampatuan towns. Earlier, Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr - brother of Zaldy and Sajid - was arrested and is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila. Andal Jr has been identified by two policemen and two suspects as being among the armed men who killed the 57 victims. The Ampatuan family was implicated in a gruesome massacre last week that claimed the lives of women members of the rival Mangudadatu clan, human rights lawyers, 31 media workers and other innocent civilians in the worst election-related violence in the nation's history. - TJD, OG, GMANews.TV