DVD vendors slammed for ‘capitalizing’ on Mamasapano clash footage

Senator Bam Aquino FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A senator on Saturday criticized businessmen and vendors “capitalizing” on the bloody Mamasapano clash, which left 44 policemen dead last month.

Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said the selling of DVDs showing how members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed during an alleged “misencounter” with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was “unacceptable.”

“This move only relives the gruesome massacre that saddened millions of Filipinos and adds to the already burdened families of the victims,” he said in a statement.

He urged authorities to arrest and punish the individuals behind the distribution of the DVDs.

Media reports said some of the online videos of the Mamasapano clash, one of which became viral, have been downloaded and peddled by DVD vendors in Iligan City. Local law enforcement authorities have started confiscating the items.

For the past days, officials have asked the public not to spread the video of a SAF trooper, apparently still alive, being shot at close range during the encounter. The said video, which has been viewed more than a million times on Facebook, has sparked outrage online and even in Congress.

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