AFP on Mamasapano case reopening: We’re ready to cooperate

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday welcomed the reopening of the investigation of the Mamasapano incident later this month.

“We are ready to cooperate if troops or officers will be called for statements or affidavits,” AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla said.

The Senate hearing, on the request of Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, will be held on January 25, exactly one year after the bloody incident in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

On January 25 last year, members of the police Special Action Force went to Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano to hunt down Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino terrorist Basit Usman. Marwan was cornered in a hut and killed, but Usman escaped.

That raid ended in government forces clashing with MILF members and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The MILF is talking peace with the government. The BIFF, on the other hand, is a breakaway group of the MILF.

Forty-four police commandos, 17 rebels and three civilians were killed in the fighting.

The bungled operation was blamed on the lack of coordination between the military and the policemen. Then Special Action Force commander Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas’ plea was supposedly ignored for his requests of reinforcements from the military.

The debacle also threatened the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, aimed to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

It was also one of the biggest blows to President Benigno Aquino III’s leadership. The Senate investigation last year concluded that it was him who was ultimately responsible for the incident.

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