Manila - Philippine officials said Friday investigators have a strong case against a scion of a powerful political family detained for allegedly masterminding a massacre of 57 civilians in a southern province. Justice Secretary Agnes Devenadera said witnesses' testimonies and evidence gathered pointed to Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Junior as the main suspect in Monday's attack on mostly women and journalists in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.
"In so far as the mayor is concerned, at this point in time, I don't see any reason why he should be released from detention with the kind of evidence we have," she said.
Devenadera said investigators have in their custody one of the more than 100 gunmen that took part in the mass killing.
The witness claimed it was Ampatuan Junior who ordered the massacre, she added.
"He could not sleep anymore because he did not expect that everyone would be killed that way," Devenadera said, explaining why the witness decided to come out. "Each person has his threshold."
Devenadera said that based on police investigation reports, female victims were shot in the genitals and could have been raped.
"Even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was not done to just one. It was done to practically all the women," she said.
"The zippers of their pants were all undone. We have not yet determined whether they were raped. But it is certain that something bad was done to them."
Ampatuan Junior, whose family is a close ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, maintained his innocence in the murder and pointed to rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Umbra Kato as behind the attack.
"We know that the MILF is a terrorist group, especially under its leader Umbra Kato. They are terrorists," he said in a television interview from his detention cell where at the National Bureau of Investigation.
"I am innocent. I voluntarily came here to show to all of you that I am not hiding," he added. "I am innocent of the crime they are accusing me of."
But Devenadera said investigators have so far not found any evidence to link Kato to the carnage.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied that his group was involved in the mass murder.
"We will not dignify his accusations," he said. "We will let the police investigators do their job and find out the culprits behind the crime."
Andal Junior surrendered Thursday to presidential aide Jesus Dureza. Police immediately filed a criminal complaint of multiple murder against him.
According to witnesses, Andal Junior allegedly led a group of about 100 heavily armed men that stopped a convoy of a political rival and diverted them to the area where they were killed.
The victims were on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for Maguindanao governor in next year's elections.
They included Mangudadatu's wife, two sisters, two human rights lawyers and at least 27 local journalists who were covering the event.
Mangudadatu's candidacy would pit him against Andal Junior. The politician filed his candidacy on Friday, escorted by dozens of police officers and soldiers.
Filipinos are due to vote for president, vice president, senators, congressmen and local officials in May. Elections in the country have traditionally been marred by violence despite additional gun restrictions imposed during the campaign and polling periods.
