Manila, 24 Nov. (AKI) - The European Union on Tuesday condemned the massacre of at least 46 people in the southern Philippines and called for the killers to be brought to justice. Philippine president Gloria Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in two provinces on the island of Mindanao as more bodies were discovered.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the barbaric killing on 23 November 2009 of innocent civilians, including women, journalists and lawyers, who were preparing to participate in the electoral process in the Philippines," said EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Expressing her condolences to the families of all those killed, Ferrero-Waldner called for calm in the run-up to elections scheduled for May next year.

"In the face of this atrocity, the rule of law and democracy have to prevail," she said.

It is one of the worst incidents of poll violence in the Philippines and it was unclear late Tuesday whether anyone had survived the massacre.

The provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City were placed under an indefinite state of emergency, which gives the military and police wide powers of arrest and detention.

Arroyo said the new powers would allow police and soldiers to set up checkpoints and conduct random searches to find the gunmen. The government has vowed to go after those responsible.

"No one will be untouchable," Arroyo spokesman Cerge Remonde said. He called the killings "unconscionable."

The victims included a pregnant woman and a deputy mayor's wife. They were butchered on Monday as they were travelling to file candidate nomination papers and their bodies were found in shallow mass graves.

The dead were also reported to include local journalists and two female lawyers.

Some of the victims had been beheaded, according to sources from the surrounding Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Registration for local and national races began earlier this month.

ARMM is composed of all the Philippines' predominantly Muslim provinces, including Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the Philippines' only predominantly Muslim city, the Islamic city of Marawi.

Election candidate, Ismael Mangudadatu, who was not travelling in the convoy, accused his powerful political rival Andal Ampatuan Jr., a local town mayor belonging to a powerful clan, of being behind the slayings.

Elections in the Philippines are often marred by violence, particularly in the south, where clashes are connected to local rivalries and insurgencies.

The country is to hold nationwide elections in May 2010. Registration for local and national races began earlier this month.