COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Justice has started preparing criminal charges against 13 Moro commanders—five from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and eight from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters—in connection with the Jan. 25 Mamasapano clash that left 44 elite policemen dead and 16 others wounded.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told a local radio station here on Monday that her office was just waiting for the report of other government agencies and the pieces of evidence needed for the formal filing of the charges against MILF commanders Zakaria Goma, Wahid Tundok, Ustadz Nanan, Abdurahman Upan and Samsudin Pakinda.
Also to be charged were BIFF commanders Abe Sali Usop, Badrudin Mamad, Kagi Karialan, Misuari Mamalangkay, Sukarno Sapal, Hasan Indal, Abu Misri Mama, Toks Akad and a certain Kadialen.
“The names of the suspects came out from testimonies of witnesses residing near the encounter site, who were interviewed by our authorities,” de Lima said in Filipino.
De Lima’s revelation on the inclusion of the MILF commanders from the 105th Base Command came a day after Interior Secretary Mar Roxas announced that President Aquino has ordered her to prepare criminal charges against those responsible for the carnage.
“This will be a joint effort between the DOJ and the PNP. The PNP’s board of inquiry will provide the testimonies of the operatives who were present during the operation and provide other things necessary for the cases to evolve,” Roxas said.
MILF officials could not be reached for reactions on De Lima’s announcement.
But Mohagher Iqbal, in an earlier statement, said the MILF forces in Mamasapano should not be faulted for the Mamasapano bloodbath.
“It was a pure and simple misencounter. The operation was intended for the BIFF, which is coddling Marwan and Basit Usman,” Iqbal said.
Marwan, who was on Washington’s list of top terrorists, was killed in the operation but Usman had eluded the Mamasapano operation.
Iqbal said the MILF lost men in the clash too.
Murad Ebrahim, MILF chair, earlier appealed for sobriety, saying the erstwhile rebel group was conducting its own investigation of the gun battle.