House digs up telling details

By: DJ Yap, Gil C. Cabacungan - 10 years ago

AP FILE PHOTO

Not so much like a circus this time, the House of Representatives on Tuesday resumed its joint inquiry into the Jan. 25 Mamasapano debacle in a more orderly fashion, filling gaps left by previous probes and making sense of the telling details.

The panel raised new questions and uncovered a number of little-known information, such as the following:

The so-called “mushroom” diplomacy

Why the police turned over the finger of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) first.

Whether the return of a warrant for the arrest of Marwan and his associate Basit Usman was ever transmitted to the courts that issued them.

The map used by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) for “Oplan Exodus” was provided by its “US counterpart.”

Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is using a “nom de guerre.”

Under the watchful eye of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the lawmakers were on their best behavior, avoiding repetitive questions or talking on top of each other, which characterized the first hearing on Feb. 11.

“Let us not be too emotional,” Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman, chair of the House committee on peace, reconciliation and unity, reminded the lawmakers at one point.

The other chair, Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, who heads the public order and safety committee, also warned the panel members ahead of time against any “grandstanding, chaotic conduct and nonobservance of decorum.”

Secret arrangement

Army Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. told lawmakers about a secret arrangement called “mushroom diplomacy” between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF.

Galvez, head of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, said the arrangement was for tracking high-value terrorists that would seek refuge in MILF-controlled territory.

This arrangement had been in place even before the Mamasapano encounter, according to Galvez.

He said it was an open secret that members of the Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and terrorists like Marwan had sought refuge in the MILF areas where they could be anonymous.

“Among the MILF, if they knew one of their relatives had relayed information to us [about a high-value target], it would not look good. That is why we have this secret arrangement,” Galvez said.

Marwan’s finger

Also at the hearing, the sacked commander of the SAF, Director Getulio Napeñas, said Marwan’s finger and pictures of his body were first taken to the SAF tactical post.

“After two days, it was turned over to the [FBI]. We were concerned the finger might begin to rot,” Napeñas said.

Upon further questioning, Napeñas admitted that he had not seen the return document of the warrants that served as legal basis to arrest Marwan and the other target, Usman, who escaped.

This implied that the FBI got hold of evidence of Marwan’s death ahead of the Philippine courts, which had issued the warrants for his arrest.

Not Google maps

Belying the military’s claim that the SAF used Google maps in asking for reinforcements from the Army for its trapped and outnumbered commandos, Napeñas said the SAF used a map provided by US counterparts.

He disputed the claim of Col. Gener del Rosario, 1st Mechanized Brigade commander, that the SAF officials had used a Google map.

Unfurling the US-provided map, Napeñas said: “This is not a Google map. This is our own map with grid references and enhanced to the nearest one meter, and which we got two weeks before the operation” was implemented.

Asked by Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan where the map was sourced from, he said: “From our US counterpart.”

Disputes MILF finding

Napeñas disputed the finding of the MILF in its report about the incident that it was the SAF that fired the first shot, leading to the bloodshed that claimed 64 lives, 44 of them on the SAF side, 17 on the MILF side and 3 civilians.

He said an improvised explosive device went off in the hut of one of the targets, Marwan, who was killed in the operation. “The fact that the IED exploded, it’s impossible that would not wake you up.”

Asked if the 55th SAF, the first team that engaged the MILF fighters and other armed groups, had fired first, Napeñas said the question should be directed to the lone survivor of that unit.

He said 310 SAF troopers on standby had failed to provide reinforcement to the 55th SAF because of the heavy volume of fire and a vast open field between their locations.

Nom de guerre

Asked by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer also admitted that MILF chief negotiator Iqbal, who was absent at the hearing, was using a “nom de guerre.”

She, however, declined to reveal Iqbal’s real name.

Nograles noted that the use of a fake name in passports was punishable under the law, but did not pursue the point.

Turning to PNP officer in charge Leonardo Espina, the lawmaker asked if he thought the deaths of the SAF 44 resulted from an encounter or a massacre.

“I’m not an expert,” Espina averred, but he agreed with Nograles’ assertion that some SAF commandos were killed while defenseless.

“It’s best for agencies mandated to pass judgment or decision to rule on these investigations,” he said.

Asked the same question a little later, Napeñas’ reply was more categorical: “It’s a massacre. A misencounter would have lasted 30 minutes not the entire afternoon. It’s all on the video,” he said, alluding to a video purportedly showing the SAF men being killed at close range.

Asked why he considered it a massacre when in his previous testimony he claimed that the SAF had shot down 250 enemies during the mission.

He said that what he meant was his men had reported hitting the enemies but there was no way they could confirm whether they were killed or injured.

The second House hearing ended after eight hours. It will resume Wednesday.