Firearms of the fallen elite police officers killed in Maguindanao were formally turned over to the Philippine National Police on Thursday at Camp Aguinaldo. The event was attended by top police and military officials. FRANCES MANGOSING/INQUIRER.net
Update
MANILA, Philippines – Sixteen firearms of the fallen Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) troops were officially returned to PNP on Thursday at Camp Aguinaldo.
But there’s a problem: Some of the firearms are in bad shape.
The presentation of firearms was attended by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr., PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and other top officials.
“We view this gesture as a sign that our brothers in the MILF want to sustain the gains of peace and progress that we have worked through the years, however we are urging our MILF brothers and return all the firearms and personal belongings that were taken from our SAF brothers during the encounter,” Catapang said.
These were the firearms turned over by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the government in Maguindanao on Wednesday.
Authorities could not say whether all firearms taken by the MILF have already been returned.
“Ang alam natin 44 ang ating mga SAF [trooper] ang pumasok dun. E pumasok naman sila fully armed. May [15] pa na mga wounded, fully armed din. So whether yung mga naiwan na baril or gamit ay [hawak] pa ng MILF or BIFF or civilian or hawak ng private armed groups hindi pa natin talaga malalaman,” Roxas said.
Some of the firearms, however, seemed to have missing accessories.
“May technical group ang SAF, sila ang mag iisa-isang mag-suri nito. We’ll just wait kung ano ang kanilang resulta,” Espina said.
(SAF has a technical group, which will examine the firearms thoroughly. We’ll just wait what the results of their examination will be.)
The botched raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25, killed 44 elite police officers in an attempt to arrest two known terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Basit Usman.
The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation has said that Marwan was killed in the operation. Usman, meanwhile, escaped.
But despite the return of the firearms by the MILF, these were still not enough, according to Espina.
“We expect that all the demands and requests that we have given to the other party vis a vis the surrender of Basit Usman to the government, as well as those who will be held and are accountable for killing of my people, our people, will be surrendered by the other party,” he said in speech.
Gazmin said the MILF’s efforts to help in capturing Usman would show their sincerity in the peace process.
“Yan ay isang sukat ng pagtitiwala kung sila ay talagang tutulong sa atin. Masusukat natin yun kanilang sinseridad kung ito ay gagawin nila at ibabalik lahat ng natitira pang mga gamit nung ating mga SAF troopers,” he said.
Originally posted 12:25 PM
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