Protests against President Arroyo's declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao. Photo:

On November 23, 2009 a convoy with 57 people on the way to an election office in the Maguindanao province, in the Southern Philippines, were attacked and killed by armed men. The governor of the province, Andal Ampatuan, was pointed out as the prime suspect for the killings. Members of a rival political family member together with 30 journalists and media workers were in the convoy. Mr Ampatuan has denied responsibility for the attack. The Ampatuan clan has controlled Maguindanao for long and its members have been loyal supporters of President Gloria Arroyo.

After the attack President Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao province which raised protests by human rights groups. Muslim rebels on the Mindanao island have been fighting for a separate Islamic state within the mainly-Catholic country for decades, a conflict which has claimed 120,000 lives.

In this week's In Focus Lennart Niemela, M.A. in Asian studies, looks at what conditions on the political-economic scene of the Philippines made the massacre possible.