PNP respects IMT finding SAF, MILF at fault; DOJ probe results awaited

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

The Philippine National Police said it respected the conclusion of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) that both the Special Action Force and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were at fault in the Mamasapano incident that left 44 police commandos, 17 MILF fighters and three civilians dead.

Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said the PNP would consider the IMT report as reference for an ongoing review within the PNP.

“This will serve as a good input in our review. We will look at it seriously without saying that we accept or reject the findings, but we respect the IMT’s findings,” the PNP spokesperson said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Tuesday.

Cerbo issued the statement in reaction to the IMT’s report on the SAF’s ill-fated operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25.

Both violated agreement

The IMT said the SAF and the MILF were at fault in the botched police operation to arrest three high-profile terrorists, saying both forces violated an existing ceasefire agreement.

The report said there was no evidence that the MILF had coddled Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” who was killed in the operation, and his cohorts.

While the IMT recognized the SAF operation as a valid law enforcement operation, it pointed out that ceasefire protocols were not observed in the planning and execution of “Oplan Exodus.”

Cerbo said the PNP respected the IMT conclusions just like it did with the PNP’s own board of inquiry and the Senate’s probe of the incident.

“We stand firm that the PNP wants justice for the Mamasapano incident and the PNP will make accountable those who are responsible for the deaths of the 44 SAF commandos,” the police official said.

He added that the PNP understood the respective concerns of the different investigations being undertaken by other government bodies, and that the PNP was “100-percent supportive” of the ongoing probe in the House of Representatives.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is also conducting its own investigation.

Briefing Malacañang reporters on Tuesday, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said “let’s wait for the results of their investigation because as far as we know, they’re doing what they’re tasked to do.”

The five-member DOJ special investigation team is “conducting a thorough, in-depth and comprehensive investigation and building up a strong case leading to the eventual prosecution of charges” before the court, Coloma said.

The case should “stand up to legal scrutiny because that’s one of the requirements of the law,” he emphasized.

The body’s findings, he added, would definitely affect the ongoing congressional inquiry into the Mamasapano incident, as well as the peace process in general.

In February, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima named the following members of the DOJ special investigation team: Assistant State Prosecutors Pedro Navera, Irwin Maraya, Gino Paolo Santiago and Jocelyn Dugay, and Assistant Prosecution Attorney Ethel Rea Suril.

In a department order, the team was tasked to “conduct a thorough, in-depth and comprehensive investigation and case buildup.”

The team will focus on the evidence from the PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the MILF, as well as reports from the board of inquiry, Commission on Human Rights and PNP Scene of the Crime Operatives, among others.

The panel was given 60 days to make recommendations.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said it was about time for the country to move on from the tragedy and institute reforms to prevent it from happening again.

“In the PNP, ongoing reforms are continually being instituted to level up the capability of policemen and prevent lapses in the enforcement of their duties,” he said.