By Jelly F. Musico
MANILA, March 24 (PNA) — Two panels of the Senate on Tuesday finally received the special investigative commission (SIC) report of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the Mamasapano incident.
Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) chairman Moahagher Iqbal submitted copies of the 35-page SIC report to Senators Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Grace Poe.
”I respectfully submit herewith a copy of the full report of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) investigation on the Mamasapano incident, in response to your request for said transmittal in your letter dated 09 March 2015,” Iqbal said in his letter to Marcos.
Marcos is the chairman of the Senate committee on local government which conducts hearings on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) while Poe is the head of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that held inquiries on the Mamasapano incident.
The MILF also submitted the SIC report to the International Monitoring Team, according to Iqbal.
The report contains the findings and recommendations as well as the narration of facts regarding the bloody encounter between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), and the combined forces of the MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
”We trust that this report is treated with fairness, and we hope that all the information provided therein will be helpful in your evaluation of the incident,” Iqbal said.
The bloody encounter has resulted in the killing of 44 SAF commandos as well as 17 Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the MILF and three civilians, according to the MILF report.
The report said the MILF forces were fired upon by the SAF troopers belonging to the 55th Special Action Company, killing two BIAF members Omar Dagadas and Ali Esmael.
The incident triggered a firefight between the BIAF’s 105th Base Command forces and 55th SAC troopers, who are in the area as blocking forces for the assault team of 84th SAC.
”The BIAF members later on construed that the uniformed armed men who attacked them were soldiers of the Philippine Army,” the MILF report said.
In a Senate committee report, 36 of the 37 members of the blocking force 55th SAC have been killed while the remaining eight fatalities from SAF belong to the 84th SAC which carried out the mission to neutralize international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.
Attached in the MILF report are the photos and identification of the 17 dead bodies of the BIAF and of the three civilians killed in the encounter.
The SIC also verified that 25 members of the BIAF have been wounded in the firefight.
Since there was no coordination between the government and the MILF through Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), the report said the BIAF cannot be faulted for concluding that the PNP-SAF troopers were enemies.
”Clearly, there was violation of the implementing guidelines of the ceasefire agreement between the GPH and the MILF,” the MILF report said.
The SIC found also “undisputed facts” that the BIAF forces residing in Mamasapano were not informed of the PNP-SAF operation.
The report also said the reports about mutilation, beheading, and willful killing are “unfounded.”
”The viral video of an armed man shooting at close range a man apparently from the PNP-SAF 55 SAC while the latter was lying down on the ground and already wounded, does not clearly show that it was the BIAF which is responsible for this,” the report said.
The report said the BIFF and the private armed groups (PAGs) could have entered the encounter site after the MILF pulled out of the areas after a ceasefire was affected.
With regard to the taking of firearms and personal effects of the SAF troopers, the report said “this is nothing extraordinary.
”While the taking of war booties is justified by in international law, in the interest of peace, these were returned to the government of the Philippines,” it added.
The MILF also denied that they coddled Marwan and Basit Usman, the BIFF commander, saying the MILF and the civilian residents in Mamasapano did not know that the two high-profile terrorists were in their community.
”The report said the hut where Marwan was killed is around three kilometers from the Barangay Tukanalipao where the MILF combatants are based,” the report said.
According to the findings, the MILF should file a protest regarding the violation of the ceasefire by the PNP-SAF.
”The coordination that is required under the Operational Guidelines was not undertaken by the GPH. Without the coordination, the gun battle was inevitable when the two armed groups crossed paths, especially after the BIAF was fired upon by the PNP-SAF,” it said.
”The BIAF-MILF forces were categorized as enemy forces by the PNP SAF despite the fact that there is an existing ceasefire agreement,” it added.
The report also recommended the conduct of investigation to determine the liability of SAF trooper PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor of the 55th SAC, who allegedly killed 4 MILF combatants while they were sleeping inside a makeshift mosque in Barangay Tukanaliap.
”The PNP-SAF committed Human Rights violations,” the report said.
The MILF leadership, according to the report, will remain committed to cleanse its camps and communities of individuals with terrorist tag. (PNA)