The military confirmed the dead include a politician about to file her and her brother's certificates of candidacy as well as journalists covering the event as the group made its way to the local Commission on Elections office.

Armed men attacked the group of more than 40 people travelling in vans at 10:30 a.m., according to local media reports, and the armed forces of the Philippines recovered many of the bodies, including 13 women and 10 local journalists.

They were on their way to the elections office in Ampatuan town on Maguindanao, the second-largest and easternmost island in the country. Ampatuan is around 560 miles south of the capital Manila.

Military spokesmen said they found the bullet-riddled bodies of the men and women and believe some of the travelers could have been taken hostage by the killers.

The families of the dead are blaming political rivals for the murders, media reports said.

The military said the groups were blocked at a makeshift checkpoint manned by around 100 Maguindanao police personnel and armed civilian volunteers allegedly led by Datu Unsay town Mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr.

The victims were supporters of Buluan Deputy Mayor Toto Mangudadatu who was not with the convoy. He is reportedly seeking the gubernatorial seat in the May 2010 elections and had apparently asked his wife to file his papers to become an official candidate.

"Six members of the group that was to bring my certificate of candidacy to Shariff Aguak were beheaded by the gunmen that flagged them down at a portion of a highway near Shariff Aguak. The police and the military have to do something," Mangudadatu told a local Catholic radio station.

Mangudadatu also said he did not send his own armed guards because he did not want to increase the chance of any armed street battle.

Maguindanao is part of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao and was created under a 1996 peace agreement with a large Muslim rebel group.

Jess Dureza, President Gloria Arroyo's adviser in Mindanao, told media that the killings were "a gruesome massacre of civilians unequaled" in recent history. "There must be a total stop to this senseless violence. I strongly recommend that a state of emergency be imposed in the area and everyone be disarmed. Anything less will not work."

Arroyo's adviser on political affairs, Gabriel Claudio, said the country is "in shock and in total outrage." She said "justice will be served and the perpetrators punished, whoever they are."

The island of Mindanao is known for its kidnappings and militant groups.

Police, military and Muslim groups that are now working with the government recently managed to release a captive Irish priest who had been abducted from his home at gunpoint. His captors were believed to be members of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Just after the release of Father Michael Sinnott, 80, police discovered the severed head of another kidnap victim whose Philippine family had refused to pay a ransom equivalent to $42,000.

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