House of Reps donates P5.3 million to SAF families, survivors

House of Representatives. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The House of Representatives was able to collect P5.3 million from representatives, their staff and personnel for the families of and for the survivors in the Special Action Force (SAF) group involved at the Mamasapano debacle.

Presiding on the last day of the chamber before it goes on Holy Week break, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said at least P4.889 million were gathered from the representatives in the 290-strong chamber.

Meanwhile, the party-list coalition foundation was able to donate an additional P100,000.

Belmonte said secretariat officials and employees were able to contribute P225,000, representatives’ staff members with P65,100, and contractual employees with P20,100.

Belmonte said the allocation will be as follows: families of the 44 SAF commandos with P100,000 each, 15 wounded soldiers with P40,000 each, and the 15 soldiers in the Seaborn SAF group with P20,000 each.

The Seaborn group was the one which led the killing of Malaysian international terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir alias “Marwan” in the antiterror raid.

The House members pooled money for SAF by virtue of a resolution, which called for financial assistance to the SAF from voluntary contributions of individual lawmakers.

Belmonte said the minimum donation per lawmaker is P10,000.

“We’re very proud of the fact that tayong lahat donated out of our own pockets a minimum of P10,000 and as high as any member could give,” Belmonte said.

The debacle in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao last Jan. 25 was meant to take down international terrorist Marwan among other notorious terrorists but ended in carnage with 44 SAF commandos, 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters and five civilians dead.

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