-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A Philippine government convoy was ambushed by gunmen Thursday in the same province that saw the bloody massacre of 57 people last month , a Philippine military spokesman said . The convoy was on its way back from a raid on the compound of former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Maguindanao province , Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said . No one was injured in the attack , he said . `` They were about to take the evidence to General Santos City when they were ambushed in the same municipality -LRB- where -RRB- the massacre took place , '' Cabangbang said . `` The convoy was able to return fire and the gunmen scampered , '' he added . The attack occurred at 7:30 p.m. local time -LRB- 6:30 a.m. ET -RRB- and Philippine military personnel were still in the area conducting search operations several hours later , he said . `` We surmise that these are men who are still loyal to the governor trying to recover what we took from the governor 's compound , '' Cabangbang said . Thousands of rounds of ammunition and several firearms were recovered from the compound , Cabangbang said . Maguindanao province is the same place where 57 people , including 30 journalists , were massacred on November 23 . That attack , authorities have said , was an apparent attempt to keep a political opponent of the Ampatuan clan from registering to run for governor . Philippine police say that at least two people who were at the scene of the massacre have implicated a mayor as being involved in the killings , state media reported Thursday . The two are among 161 suspects in the killings in the southern province . Some of the suspects are in custody ; others are being sought , the Philippines News Agency said . Immediately after the killings , suspicion fell on Andal Ampatuan Jr. , the mayor of Datu Unsay municipality and the son of the powerful governor of Maguindanao . Authorities have recommended that Ampatuan be charged with 25 counts of murder . `` We have two -LRB- witnesses -RRB- . Because they were in the crime scene , these two have direct testimony linking the mayor to the crime , '' the country 's National Police Director Raul Castaneda was quoted as saying by the news agency . Also on Thursday , 75 civilians , including children , were kidnapped in the region where the massacre took place , authorities said . Several rebel groups there are fighting for different causes . Seventeen children and an adult were freed soon after , and negotiations continued to secure the release of the rest , said Army Capt. Enrico Ileto . The abductions took place Thursday afternoon in Prosperidad , the capital of Agusan del Sur province . The November 23 massacre took place on the other side of the island . There are no indications that the two incidents are related . Alongside Muslim separatist groups that have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the region , communist rebels are engaged in a 40-year insurgency there . The Philippine Congress met Thursday for a second day in a joint session as lawmakers questioned President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo 's Cabinet members about a martial law that was imposed on the province Friday . The martial law allows arrests without a warrant . The army has said it is necessary to impose peace following what has been called a politically motivated massacre . Critics contend that it sets a dangerous precedent . Violence in the run-up to elections is not uncommon in the country . The Maguindanao massacre , however , is the worst politically motivated violence in recent Philippine history , according to state media . The victims included the wife and sister of political candidate Ismael `` Toto '' Mangudadatu , who had sent the women to file paperwork allowing him to run for governor of Maguindanao . He said he had received threats from allies of Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. , the father of the accused mayor , saying he would be kidnapped if he filed the papers himself . Maguindanao is part of an autonomous region in predominantly Muslim Mindanao , which was set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian Asian nation . CNN 's Nick Valencia , Joyce Joseph and Sarita Harilela contributed to this report .