Militants loyal to the Ampatuan clan, the main suspects in the Nov. 23 slaying of a local politician's supporters, attacked Philippine security forces in Maguindanao province Dec. 6, according to the country's national police. The attack comes in spite of a Dec. 4 declaration of martial law in the region by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Attacks by clan-based militias are nothing new in the Philippines, and the clans themselves wield a significant influence in the country's politics. The most recent incident, however, puts Arroyo in the difficult position of needing to demonstrate to her national constituency that she is tough on militancy, while at the same time finding another clan to back her as she seeks to retain power in the country after her term as president expires in 2010. Arroyo's declaration of martial law in Maguindanao on Dec. 4 was in response to the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people supporting a political aspirant running in the 2010 provincial election. It is believed that leaders of the powerful Ampatuan clan — headed by the incumbent Maguindanao governor, Andal Ampatuan Sr., who wishes for his son to succeed him — were behind the attack. The government then mobilized thousands of troops in a crackdown on an estimated 3,000 Ampatuan militia members. It is the first time martial law has been used in the country since Ferdinand Marcos imposed it nationwide in 1972. The Philippines' 1987 Constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law in the country only in the case of rebellion or invasion, and the Philippine government and military have said the Ampatuan clan has links to the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Indigenous clans, developed in the period of Spanish and U.S. colonization more than four hundred years ago, dominate the country's political system, particularly in the south. Local, provincial, congressional and even presidential posts are shaped by different clans or alliances between clans that reach back decades. To protect their interests, as well as to compete against other clans, many politicians employ large clan-based militias to intimidate voters or secure their votes, and the case is particularly significant in the southern island of Mindanao, where the incidents of clan violence have reached a high level and have brought national attention to the issue. The Ampatuan clan reportedly was a staunch ally of the Arroyo administration, and was believed to have helped her secure the presidential bid during the 2004 election and helped her party win the 2007 midterm elections through massive voter fraud. Arroyo has distanced herself from the Ampatuan clan by ordering the crackdown, but it is unclear how far she will go in attempting to weaken the group. In the meantime, Arroyo now may have to look for alternative clan support in order to secure her congressional bid in May 2010.