No rift between AFP, PNP over Mamasapano incident – military spokesman

MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it has maintained good relations with the Philippine National Police despite the Maguindanao encounter, which killed 44 police commandos.

On Wednesday, military and police generals traded blames against each other after sacked Special Action Force chief Director Getulio Napenas disputed the claims of the military that it failed to give the crucial information to send reinforcements.

Napenas in a press briefing said he passed the grid coordinates to military officials including Army’s 6th Infantry Division Major General Edmundo Pangilinan.

“Maayos naman pong nagtutulungan at nagtatrabaho ang ating [mga pulis] at [mga sundalo] at katunayan nga po diyan, maganda po yung resulta ng ating pakikipagtulungan sa may Mindanao,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Restituto Padilla said on Thursday.

“The generals are talking. Wala pong hidwaan na namamagitan sa amin at kinlaro po na tuloy-tuloy ang mga issues na dapat pag-usapan,” he added.

Padilla said the AFP has decided to refrain from speaking about the issue.

“We have agreed to be circumspect about all these matters and give the Board of Inquiry the opportunity to conduct their work,” he said.