SAF getting ‘new blood’

Seven months after the tragic police operation that killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, the Philippine National Police elite unit is drawing more “new blood” this year.

SAF spokesperson Senior Insp. Jayson Baldoz said the elite force hopefuls doubled this year, compared to past years which registered only an average of 100 applicants a year.

Last July, more than 250 recruits signed up for the grueling SAF training.

“Maybe it’s their idealism of serving the country. Despite what happened, the SAF and the Philippine National Police as a whole showed such idealism which maybe pushed the applicants to join the SAF,” said Baldoz in a press briefing in Camp Crame yesterday.

‘Oplan Exodus’

The police official was referring to the SAF’s ill-fated “Oplan Exodus” last Jan. 25, an operation to arrest two wanted terrorists which ended in the deaths of 44 elite commandos.

The death toll was attributed to the lack of coordination between the SAF and other law enforcement units and the issuing orders of then suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima.

Despite the deaths of fellow troopers, Baldoz said the SAF considers Oplan Exodus a success since they killed Southeast Asia’s most wanted terrorist Malaysian Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known as “Marwan,” during the operation.

“After the Mamasapano incident, the SAF is already in fighting form, so all troopers have already gained back their morale. The SAF’s morale is high now,” he said.

Although the SAF lost many of its men in the bloody clash, the public outpouring of grief for the SAF also translated to sympathy for the PNP, which had to battle a negative image.