A key prosecution witness said Wednesday that he heard the accused plot the murders of 57 people in what is considered the worst politically motivated killings in recent Philippine history.
Even if a landmark murder trial starts Wednesday in the Philippines, the accused might well die of old age before the case ends, a lawyer said.
An alleged ringleader in what is considered the worst politically motivated killings in recent Philippine history is expected to go on trial in Manila on Wednesday.
Authorities in the Philippines have filed murder charges against the former governor of southern Maguindanao province and 196 others in connection with last year's election-related massacre there.
A member of a politically powerful family in the southern Philippines pleaded not guilty to dozens of murder charges filled against him in connection with a November massacre in Maguindanao province, Philippine news outlets reported.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted martial law in the country's south, which she declared after the massacre of 57 people last month, Philippine news outlets reported Saturday.
Philippines police say that at least two people who were at the scene of last month's massacre in the country's south have implicated a mayor as being involved in the killings, state media reported Thursday.
A Philippine government convoy was ambushed by gunmen Thursday in the same province that saw the bloody massacre of 57 people last month, a Philippine military spokesman said.
The Philippine House of Representatives and Senate were meeting Monday to debate the imposition of martial law in the country's south by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the aftermath of last month's massacre of 57 civilians.
Charges of rebellion will be leveled against many of those arrested during martial law in the southern Philippines -- declared in the aftermath of last month's massacre of 57 civilians, the nation's justice secretary said.
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared martial law beginning Friday night in the southern province of Maguindanao, where 57 people were killed last week, an army spokesman told CNN Saturday.
Troops in the southern Philippines early Sunday took advantage of martial law to hunt down those believed responsible for last week's killings there.
One hundred more suspects -- including police officers -- could face arrest over a massacre in the Philippines, a government official said Friday after authorities charged the alleged architect of the killings.
Authorities have filed murder charges against a politician over the massacre of 57 unarmed civilians in the Philippines, state-run media reported Thursday.
Filipinos are used to violence during the run-up to elections -- they'll often say with a sad shrug, a grimace and resignation that it's "normal." They're only too aware that politics can be a dangerous business in this country, so often mixed with guns, greed and money.
Bodies lie scattered in a rural field in the southern Philippines, some unearthed from a shallow grave hastily dug by the gunmen who seized the group of men and women just a day earlier.
The Philippines government has increased security in the southern region of Maguindanao after gunmen kidnapped and killed at least 22 people, according to military officials and the country's national news agency.
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