MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Six Philippine officials were accused Thursday of illegally encouraging martial law in a province where 57 people were killed in election-related violence.
The members of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Cabinet were accused of grossly overstepping their authority and violating Philippine codes in recommending the state of emergency in Maguindanao Province after the Nov. 23 massacre, Philippine broadcaster GMA News reported.
Police and the military used the martial law to investigate the powerful political Ampatuan family, whose members were accused of carrying out the massacre to stop rival politician Esmael Mangudadatu from filing papers to run for governor -- and then fomenting rebellion to prevent Ampatuan family members from being arrested.
The martial-law declaration -- the Philippines' first since the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, which ended in 1986 -- let the government make arrests without warrants.
"When the president commits a supreme constitutional blunder, even the stooges must be made to pay," said Rep. Risa Hontiveros, one of two lawmakers filing the complaint against Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado and National Police Director Jesus Verzosa.
To rationalize the martial-law declaration, the six "misused the information they received from the ground," Hontiveros said.
The accused officials were unavailable for comment, GMA News reported.
Arroyo lifted the Dec. 4 decree Dec. 12 after murder and rebellion charges were filed against the massacre suspects, including Ampatuan clan members, who ruled the province much of this decade.
