Calls mount for Senate to probe SAF-MILF clash

By: Maila Ager - 10 years ago

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — A third senator has filed a resolution seeking an investigation into Sunday’s clash in Maguindanao where 44 policemen and eight members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed.

“In order to avoid distractions from the peace and prevent the indiscriminate and wholesale condemnation of the people of Mindanao for the actions of a few violent persons, we need to shed light on the facts surrounding the law enforcement operation that caused the injuries and death to those involved,” Senator Teofisto Guingona III said in Senate resolution 1136 filed Tuesday.

Guingona’s resolution said, “There is a need to accurately determine the nature, scope and objective of the operation and identify those responsible for the unnecessary loss of lives.”

During the incident in the town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao, 44 members of the PNP’s elite Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed while arresting Malaysian Zulkiffli bin Hir, who is allegedly a member of the Islamist terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

The PNP-SAF members were reportedly killed by members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

MILF leader Al Haj Murad and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas have described the incident as a “misencounter.”

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, JV Ejercito and former-Senator Panfilo Lacson have called it a “massacre.” They separately noted the long duration of the fighting and the high number of casualties on the government side in discounting claims that it was a mistake encounter.

Consequently, Cayetano and Ejercito withdrew their sponsorship of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law pending before the Senate.

Aside from Guingona, the two other senators who have filed separate resolutions seeking an investigation into the incident are detained-Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Senator Grace Poe.