Too many probes (8) may spoil the truth

SO WHERE WAS EVERYBODY? A draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law lies unread on a table in the House of Representatives after the congressional inquiry on the death of 44 police commandos seems to take precedence; the BBL is tabled in the meantime. LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines–Will too many cooks spoil the truth?

President Aquino has ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the Mamasapano debacle, perhaps the worst “security nightmare” during his term.

With the DOJ probe, there would be at least eight investigations into the debacle, including the PNP board of inquiry (BOI), the probe by the House of Representatives and the Senate, the MILF’s special investigation commission and that of the International Monitoring Team (IMT), a group of foreign military officials that monitors the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is also conducting a probe of its own.

A truth commission to conduct an independent investigation has been proposed in the Senate, where Aquino himself might be summoned to shed light on what he knew about the operation that was so secret, not even the highest security officials in his Cabinet, the military and police were briefed about it.

Malacañang said the DOJ investigation would not be a “duplication” of the PNP-BOI probe.

Forty-four commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF), 18 guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and a number of civilians were killed as government security forces killed international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan” in Maguindanao on Jan. 25.

Case buildup

The DOJ investigation will be conducted “in close coordination” with the board of inquiry, said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

“It is inappropriate to view this as being a duplication. The relevant information that may be gathered by the DOJ from the PNP-BOI and other sources may be used in the case buildup phase that precedes the filing of charges before the courts,” he said.

To the question of whether the various investigations would muddle the truth and confuse the people, Coloma replied:

“That would be up to them. To us, we are doing everything we could to have a complete and full narration (of events) and find out the truth because this is important to give justice to those who died.”

DOJ special team

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said her office was set to create a special team of probers.

“I’m confirming [that there] is indeed the instruction of the President to the Department of Justice to undertake buildup and prepare the appropriate or necessary criminal charges against those [who] may be identified or determined to be responsible to what happened,” De Lima told reporters in an interview.

She said she was in the process of constituting a joint special team from the National Prosecution Service (NPS) and the National Bureau of Investigation. The team will be directly under her supervision.

“We will be closely coordinating with the Philippine National Police, with the board of inquiry. And of course, we will not be precluded also from gathering evidence so as to help in the case buildup,” she said.

According to her, the case buildup will focus on the preparation of criminal charges “based on the evidence that are gathered and are being gathered, those already gathered by the board, by the PNP, by the military and those that will be obtained from the congressional inquiries.”

De Lima denied news reports that the DOJ was set to file cases against specific individuals. “I don’t know where they’re coming from. We are still speaking with the PNP and the board.”

14 Moro commanders

But on Monday, De Lima told a local radio station in Cotabato City 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 14 commanders—five from the MILF and nine from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a group that broke away from the MILF.

The MILF commanders were identified as 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.

Misencounter

“The names of the suspects came out in the Inquirer last Sunday from testimonies of witnesses residing near the encounter site, who were interviewed by our authorities,” De Lima said.

Mohagher Iqbal, in an earlier statement, said the MILF forces in Mamasapano should not be faulted for the incident. “It was a pure and simple misencounter. The operation was intended for the BIFF, which is coddling Marwan and Basit Usman,” Iqbal said.

Marwan was on Washington’s list of top terrorists. He was killed but Usman eluded the Mamasapano operation.

Iqbal said the MILF lost men in the clash, too.

Murad Ebrahim, MILF chair, had earlier appealed for sobriety, saying the erstwhile rebel group was conducting its own investigation of the incident.

CHR mission

To start its probe, the CHR is conducting a two-day mission in Mindanao. A team from the CHR main office, led by Chair Loretta Rosales, left on Tuesday for its mission in Cotabato City and in Mamasapano.

Aside from Rosales, the team was composed of lawyers Homero Matthew Rusiana, Marc Titus Cebreros, Twyla Rubin and Cecilia Jimenez-Damary.

“The mission includes an ocular inspection of the encounter site on Wednesday, a memorial Mass on Tuesday and several consultation meetings with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities, the International Monitoring Team, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” said CHR spokesman Cebreros.

The CHR regional office and the ARMM local government is providing support to the two-day mission.

Independent body

“There have been calls for a more independent investigation. The CHR, given its mandate under the Constitution and various laws, will at this moment, define the basic principles, scope and parameters of its independent investigation through this two-day scoping mission,” Cebreros said.

At the end of the mission, the CHR is expected to have established prima facie elements that will warrant an investigation based on human rights and international humanitarian law standards.

Coloma said the Palace “acknowledged” the bills that were filed by Senators Teofisto Guingona III and Bam Aquino, the President’s cousin, on the creation of an independent fact-finding commission.

He said the information that would be gathered by the PNP-BOI and the IMT, along with the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, could become “useful reference for their work,” referring to the truth commission and the investigations done by the Senate and the House.

“Let’s give the process started by the board of inquiry a chance to find out every aspect of the operation, from the planning to the retrieval of the bodies of the slain PNP-SAF,” Coloma said.

Asked if the President would be willing to face the truth commission and narrate the fact he knew about the security operation, Coloma said he had not spoken to the Chief Executive about this.

But Coloma said that from the get-go, the President had explained and narrated what he knew about “what had happened.”

Coloma added that when the President spoke on Friday to the SAF commandos who were wounded in the encounter, he asked them to write down everything they remembered about the operation because what they knew was vital information.

“That’s why the government is doing everything to find out the whole narrative about this and that is what the board of inquiry is doing. We are hoping that before the week ends, the (BOI) can give us a progress update for us to know what relevant information they had gathered,” Coloma said.

Senate, House to name probers

Coloma also said that it would be the Senate or the House that would choose the members of the truth commission and not the President, allaying fears expressed by Vice President Jejomar Binay that the commission would not be an independent one if Aquino would choose its composition.

While she supported the creation of a truth commission, Sen. Grace Poe said her committee on public order would conduct its separate inquiry into the police operation against Marwan.–With a report from Leila B. Salaverria

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