THERE was still a skirmish between the Special Action Force (SAF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) hours after a ceasefire has been put in place in a desperate attempt to put an end to the 12-hour gunfight in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that left 44 police commandos dead, the MILF ceasefire committee chair said.
During the Senate hearing on the Bangsamoro basic bill Monday, MILF Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities chair Rashid Ladiasan said a ceasefire has already been in place as early as noontime of Jan. 25 but the 84th SAF company and the MILF were still engaged in a gunfight at around 5 p.m. or nearly five hours after the truce was imposed.
This was his answer as Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, who is leading the Senate hearing, tried to dig deeper as to why the ceasefire mechanism failed despite being imposed early on.
After the SAF commandos killed international terrorist Zulkifi Bin Hir alias Marwan, they found themselves under heavy fire for 12 hours or most of the day as they tried to extricate themselves from the covert operation.
Marcos said his information is that the ceasefire had already been in place as early as 12 noon and in fact some of the government troops were already withdrawing at that time.
“I know there are posts from the Armed Forces of the Philippines na pinapa-withdraw na ang AFP elements around 12 noon or 1 p.m. kasi may ceasefire na daw. ‘Yung SAF hindi gumalaw. On the AFP side, it’s clear there was already an order to withdraw. What happened sa MILF?” Marcos said.
“Ang nakuha naming report, 4 p.m. pa nung tumigil ang putukan. That’s why we are trying to establish why you continued fighting whereas na-inform na ang magkabila sa ceasefire,” he added.
Ladiasan said even beyond 4 p.m. the 84th SAF company was still engaged in the skirmish with the MILF.
“Ang alam ko po, before 5 p.m. may putukan pa rin dun sa area, pakonti konti na lang po,” Ladiasan said.
He said the cessation committee has found it difficult early in the day to coordinate with its members because of very limited information, thus delaying their visitation to the gunbattle venue, which was the first step in the ceasefire.
“Gusto naming talaga as soon as possible. But at that time, since early morning, disorganized na kami. Wala na kaming information. Malalayo ang mga kasama namin,” Ladiasan said.
Brig. Gen. Manolito Orense of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group said they started gathering cadavers from the 84th SAF company before nightfall but they have to defer it until the next day due to the difficulty of recovering bodies in the dark.