MANILA, 30 JULY, 2010: Local officials in three provinces in Southern Philippines have asked the military to lift the state of emergency declared last year following the brutal massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists in broad daylight, China's Xinhua news agency said.

The three provinces are namely Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and the city of Cotabato.

Speaking to reporters, Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, regional military spokesman on Friday that the government officials in the provinces of have requested the lifting of the state of emergency imposed by former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in December last year.

"Without the state of emergency, the operation to arrest suspects in the Nov 23, 2009 mass killings in Ampatuan town wiol still continue, said Cabangbang, adding that the peace and order situation in the areas are now normal.

So far, from 196 people involved in the massacre, the police detained 62.

However, Maguindanao Governor Esmail Toto Mangudadatu opposed the lifting, saying there is still division among local officials in his province, and the lifting might spark another security problem.

Political wars run deep in the province and is one of the reasons behind the massacre of the 57 people.

The primary suspects- -- former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and two of his sons former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao--- are political rival of the Mangudadatus.

The three Ampatuans are currently behind bars and are being tried for the massacre.
 

- Bernama

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