By Jelly F. Musico
MANILA, Feb. 8 (PNA) – A survivor of the Jan. 25 encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that killed 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) troopers will lead the 26 resource persons invited in the Senate inquiry into the bloody incident on Monday.
Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Order which will conduct the investigation, has invited SAF survivor PO2 Christopher Lalan who is expected to give details on how he survived the encounter with combined forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The encounter took place while the SAF team was conducting operation to arrest two high profile terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Abdul Basit Usman, both bomb makers. Marwan was killed but Usman was able to escape.
Lalan will be joined by relieved SAF chief Supt. Getlio Pascual Napenas and other PNP officials to be led by former PNP chief Director General Alan Purisma who resigned last Friday amid reports that he directed the operation while being suspended by the Ombudsman on corruption allegations.
Other invited PNP officials include acting PNP chief Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, acting PNP-SAF commander Chief Supt. Noli Talino, PNP-ARMM regional commander Supt. Noel delos Reyes, ARMM acting regional commander Noel Ponla Armilla, PNP Maguindanao Provincial Office chief Rodelio Jocson, and Supt. Raymond Train.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Manuel A. Roxas III as well as Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire Gazmin have also been invited in the inquiry set to be held from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Senate Session Hall.
Other resource persons are Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) Secretary Yazmin Busran-Lao, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima, GPH-Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) chair Brig. Gen. Manolito Orense, GPH-Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and AHJAG Secretariat Head Maj. Carlos Sol, Government of the Philippines–Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (GPH-CCCH) chairperson Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., and DND’s Anti-Terrorism Council of the Philippines Undersecretary Natalio Ecamar III.
From Mindanao, the Senate panel also invited Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman, Mamasapano, Maguindanao Mayor Datu Tahirudin Benzar Ampatuan, and Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator for the MILF.
Also invited are Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Pio Catapang Jr., Philippine Army 6th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, and University of the Philippines’ Institute of Islamic Studies Dean Prof. Julkipli Wadi. (PNA)