<p>Police and soldiers found 22 bodies in a hillside mass grave on Tuesday, adding to the 24 bullet-riddled bodies recovered near the scene of Monday’s massacre in Maguindanao province, said Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna of the Central Mindanao region.<br /><br />This southern region of the Philippines is wracked by violent political rivalries, in addition to a long-running Islamic insurgency, but the killings have shocked this Southeast Asian nation. <br /><br />An adviser to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has described the massacre as the worst in the country’s recent history. A media rights watchdog also says that it appears to be the world’s worst mass killing of journalists, with as many as 23 feared dead.<br /><br />Dozens of gunmen abducted the group of journalists, supporters and relatives of a gubernatorial candidate as they travelled through Amputuan township on Monday to file candidacy documents in the provincial capital for May 2010 elections.<br /></p>
<p>Police and soldiers found 22 bodies in a hillside mass grave on Tuesday, adding to the 24 bullet-riddled bodies recovered near the scene of Monday’s massacre in Maguindanao province, said Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna of the Central Mindanao region.<br /><br />This southern region of the Philippines is wracked by violent political rivalries, in addition to a long-running Islamic insurgency, but the killings have shocked this Southeast Asian nation. <br /><br />An adviser to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has described the massacre as the worst in the country’s recent history. A media rights watchdog also says that it appears to be the world’s worst mass killing of journalists, with as many as 23 feared dead.<br /><br />Dozens of gunmen abducted the group of journalists, supporters and relatives of a gubernatorial candidate as they travelled through Amputuan township on Monday to file candidacy documents in the provincial capital for May 2010 elections.<br /></p>
