A total of 31 journalists, five of them women, were massacred in the Philippines on 23 November at the start of a campaign for elections that will be held on 10 May. Never in the history of journalism have so many members of this profession died in a single day.Those responsible for the massacre are members of the Ampatuan family, who are very close political allies of President Gloria Arroyo. With the help of a private militia, they have used terror and corruption to rule unchallenged in Maguindanao, a Muslim region in the south of the country, for more than 20 years. When a member of another political family announced his intention to register as a candidate in order to run against them, they did not hesitate to butcher his wife, sisters and lawyers and, to eliminate witnesses, all the journalists covering the event. In all, 57 people died. The women were also raped and mutilated. This video footage reveal the dire straits that the relatives are suffering as a result of the tragedy.
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