MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the quest for justice for the 44 slain Special Actions Force commandos should not be forgotten, amid the strides made by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the peace process.
The SAF troopers were killed in a clash with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and other private armed groups in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, during a police operation to arrest terror suspects.
Marcos said family members of the SAF troopers had been asking him about the progress in the case against their killers, and added that he himself would seek answers from the Department of Justice about the developments in the matter.
He pointed out that the DOJ earlier said that 90 persons would be charged. But apparently, nothing has come of this.
“I will ask the DOJ now, I will write a letter saying, ‘what happened to the investigation?” he said at the Senate weekly media forum.
“I won’t allow the SAF 44 to be forgotten,” he said.
He also said he learned that not all of the government’s promised benefits to the families of the commandos had been given to them.
The families did not ask for these benefits, he said. These were promised by the government, and it has failed to deliver, Marcos said.
But what the families want more than ever is justice, according to Marcos.
Marcos also bewailed the fact that former Philippine National Police chief and director general Alan Purisima has been allowed to remain in the force, even after being implicated in the Mamasapano carnage.
Purisima was one of the people involved when the operation was being planned, even when he was temporarily suspended as PNP chief.
He returned to the PNP earlier this month after serving his six-month preventive suspension, which arose from a corruption complaint against him.
Malacañang should not coddle Purisima, said Marcos.