The first trials relating to the Philippines’ worst-ever political massacre – in which 32 journalists were also slain – started today.

A total of 57 people were slaughtered in the southern province of Maguindanao in November 2009. The 32 journalists were part of a convoy intercepted by over 100 gunmen at a roadside checkpoint in the town of Ampatuan, Mindanao Island. The convoy was travelling to file candidacy papers for gubernatorial candidate and local mayor Esmael Mangudadatu. Police found the dead bodies in shallow graves close to a checkpoint. Apart from the journalists, those killed included Mangudadatu’s wife and sisters, lawyers, aides, and motorists who had witnessed the incident or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy.

Standing in the dock on the first day of the trial was Maguindanao mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, son of a powerful rival family in Maguindanao province.  Five other members of the Ampatuan family – including the patriarch and former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr – are among 196 people facing charges related to the massacre. Of those facing charges, 16 are police officers. Ampatuan Jr, whose family ruled Maguindanao province for nearly a decade and enjoyed the support of former President Gloria Arroyo, is charged with 57 counts of murder over the massacre.

At a bail hearing in January, a witness said a roadblock had been set up, the victims put on to a lorry at gunpoint and taken to a mountainside, where they had been killed by Mr Ampatuan Jr and his men. He claimed he had seen Andal Ampatuan Jr shoot people at close range.  A long-serving family servant told the court today that Ampatuan Jr had ordered and planned the massacre to deter Mangudadatu from filing his candidacy papers.

Mangudadatu went on to win the election and became governor of the province in June this year.

The trial, held in a special courtroom built inside a maximum-security prison in the south of the capital, Manila, is being held amid allegations of witness intimidation and fears the case could drag on for years.  One of the attorneys for several of the victims says there is a possibility that Ampatuan Jr, 50, could die of old age before the trial is over, according to CNN.

“I am glad to see the case has finally come to trial,” said International Press Institute Interim Director Alison Bethel McKenzie.  “This was the worst politically motivated killing in recent Philippine history and the biggest single killing of journalists since IPI began its Death Watch in 1997.  The Philippines has previously had a poor record of bringing the murderers of journalists to justice. We sincerely hope that this is about to change.”

The massacre led to the Philippines ranking as the most dangerous country in the world last year for journalists according to IPI’s Death Watch.  So far in 2010, three journalists have been killed.