Andal Ampatuan Jnr, was already detained and charged with 25 counts of murder before martial law was imposed. -- PHOTO: AFP
MANILA - THE leaders of a Muslim clan in the southern Philippines where martial law was imposed following a massacre were charged with rebellion on Wednesday, a justice department official said.
The patriarch of the clan, Andal Ampatuan Snr, and one of his sons were among 24 people charged with rebellion in a court in the southern city of Cotabato, justice undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor told reporters. 'The charges have been filed,' he said.
Andal Snr and four other clan members were detained on Saturday, hours after President Gloria Arroyo placed their stronghold of Maguindanao province under martial law.
Mrs Arroyo had said she needed to use military powers to quell a rebellion led by the Ampatuans, whose 3,000-strong militia force had threatened to attack if their leaders were arrested for the Nov 23 massacre of 57 people.
One Ampatuan son, Andal Ampatuan Jnr, was already detained and charged with 25 counts of murder before martial law was imposed.
Another son of the patriarch, Zaldy Ampatuan, the governor of an autonomous Muslim area in the southern Philippines, was one of the 24 people charged with rebellion, Mr Blancaflor said. -- AFP