MANILA, Philippines?Before the backhoe, there were chainsaws.

Long before the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, at least 200 people may have been killed and buried in mass graves upon orders from the powerful Ampatuan clan throughout its eight-year reign in the central Mindanao province, according to the chief of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

CHR chair Leila de Lima said this chilling estimate came from informants who had come forward following last month?s election-related carnage that left 57 people dead, including 30 journalists.

De Lima said the informants, whom she met during a recent trip to Maguindanao, included three to five police officers and civilians.

?Given the right opportunity, there are witnesses who can pinpoint the graves of the (earlier) victims,? she said in a briefing Wednesday. ?It?s possible that these are victims of the same clan and its private army.?

?We are looking at a minimum of 200 (bodies),? De Lima said.

Anonymous complaint

Last July, De Lima said, the Office of the Ombudsman forwarded to the CHR an anonymous letter ?complaining about the atrocities of the Ampatuans? whose victims had been buried in mass graves in the Maguindanao towns of Shariff Aguak and Ampatuan.

The letter claimed some of the victims were buried alive while others were slain using chainsaws, De Lima said.

?We asked (Maguindanao) Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. to comment on the anonymous complaint but he never responded,? the CHR chair recalled.

The letter said the victims allegedly included one Arnel Datucon, a lawyer who fell out of the graces of the Ampatuans, and ?another personality? whose name De Lima could not immediately recall Wednesday.

Others were regular peasants who fell out of favor with the family.

Entrenched in power since becoming allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001, the Ampatuans were accused of masterminding the Nov. 23 massacre in a bid to stop a rival politician from running for provincial governor in next year?s elections.

The killing frenzy was allegedly carried out by over a hundred militias?deputized anti-insurgency forces under the Ampatuans? control?who hastily buried the dead using a backhoe.

De Lima said the CHR?s regional office had also received reports pointing to mass graves in Maguindanao but its staff members then ?could not go out and validate the allegations? out of fear.

?Everybody?s aware?

Though it strongly opposed Friday?s declaration of martial law in the province, De Lima said, the CHR ?would take advantage? of the relative peace in the military-controlled areas to look for more mass graves.

?We will take advantage of the fact that the Ampatuans are [now] contained physically,? she said.

?Everybody was aware (of the killings), but they have been tolerated,? De Lima added. ?That is why we want full accountability now. The years of tolerance and neglect are over.?

De Lima said independent forensic experts deputized by her agency would begin excavating two alleged ?killing fields? in the next two weeks.

Police officers who had direct knowledge of some of the murders were among those now willing to speak out against the Ampatuans, according to De Lima. With a report from Agence France-Presse