Roxas orders Board of Inquiry formed to probe Maguindanao mis-encounter

By Noel Y. Punzalan

44 fallen PNP-SAF in Mamasapano, Maguindanao

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, Jan. 26 (PNA) -- Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas has ordered the formation of a Board of Inquiry “to get to the bottom” of Sunday's mis-encounter between the police’s Special Action Force (SAF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

In a brief press conference held inside this camp of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, Roxas confirmed the recovery of 43 bodies as of 4:00 p.m. Monday of SAF elements involved in Sunday’s operation to get Afghanistan-trained bomb-makers Jemaah Islamiyah operative Zulkipli bin Hir, alias Marwan; and his cohort Abdul Basit Usman.

Eleven other SAF members were recovered wounded.

“I am saluting them all (fallen SAF members) and I am assuring that all honors and benefits be given to their respective families," Roxas said.

He said he remains confident that the mis-encounter would not affect that ongoing GPF-MILF peace talks as it was not the MILF the state troopers were after but rather Marwan and Usman.

Roxas then requested for and led a minute of silence for the fallen police personnel.

The DILG chief also answered queries of newsmen on the pictures of someone killed with semblance of Marwan but he said this was “yet to be verified.”

He added, "Mukhang nakalabas naman si Usman.”

Roxas described Sunday’s encounter as the “single, worse mis-encounter incident in recent history.”

Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, whom Roxas appointed to lead the Board of Inquiry, vowed to stay behind in the Maguindanao area until everything is cleared out.

Espina confirmed that the SAF strength involved in the Mamasapano operation was at 393 but only 35 entered the interiors of Barangay Tukanalipao to get the high value targets.

“I will not leave until everyone in the SAF team is accounted for,” a visibly sad Espina said.

He described the incident as a legitimate operation gone bad, adding that all those involved in the mission were SAF personnel.

“The SAF has no specific area of operation. They are highly mobile. The composite team in Mamasapano came from North Cotabato, Maguindanao and other nearby provinces,” Espina stressed.

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, said all the recovered bodies of the fallen SAF troopers showed no sign of mutilation or looting whatsoever.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Mujiv Hataman, for his part, said he was saddened by the incident and called for the pursuance of the GPH-MILF peace overture to avoid further bloodshed of such magnitude in the troubled south.

“Nakikiusap ako na huwag sana mapunta sa negatibo ang usaping pangkapayapaan dahil sa pangyayaring ito,” he said.

Roxas pointed out that the bungled SAF operation was never about the huge bounties on the heads of Marwan and Usman at US$ 5 million dollars and US$ 1 million dollars, respectively, but focused mainly on the neutralization of the two high value terrorists.

“The bounty is only incidental and never was it discussed anywhere, anytime during the law enforcement operation,” he said. (PNA)
LAP/NYP/