Philippine troops took the patriarch of a powerful clan - a former governor - and three other members of his family into custody yesterday after the president put his southern province under martial law to hunt down suspects in the country's worst political violence.
The head of the clan, Andal Ampatuan Sr, and at least six other family members who have ruled impoverished Maguindanao province unopposed for years are the main suspects in the November 23 attack on a political rival's convoy in which 57 people, including 30 journalists, were killed.
The family denied involvement.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday put Maguindanao under martial law, allowing troops to make arrests without court warrants and restore order, her top Cabinet member, executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, announced.
It was the first time martial law has been declared in the country since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed it nationwide in 1972, paving the way for his one-man rule that ended with his ousting in 1986.
Under the post-Marcos constitution, Ms Arroyo can enforce martial law for 60 days, unless Congress revokes or extends it.
Soldiers seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition that was buried near one of the Ampatuans' homes in Shariff Aguak, the provincial capital.
Raids on four residential compounds yielded only one shotgun, a few bullets and empty ammunition boxes. Armed forces chief General Victor Ibrado said Ampatuan Sr, a three-term provincial governor, and his son Zaldy, governor of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, which includes Maguindanao, were taken into military custody early yesterday.
Two other sons and five other men sought in connection with the massacre were also detained, police said.
Another son, Andal Jr, turned himself in a couple of weeks ago and was charged with multiple counts of murder.
The patriarch was taken later yesterday to a hospital in southern Davao city due to hypertension, local military spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang said. The hospital was surrounded by soldiers and police.