Senate resolution filed to probe Basilan clash

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Antonio Trillanes  IV has  filed a resolution seeking a Senate  inquiry into the  October 18  clash between the  Armed Forces of the Philippines and  the Moro Islamic  Liberation Front (MILF) that killed 19 soldiers.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The resolution filed Monday would look into alleged “operational and tactical lapses” committed by the  government troops.

“Someone has to be made accountable for the deaths of our troops in Mindanao. Possible operational and tactical lapses on the part of the AFP might have led to the gruesome death of our soldiers, which to my count has reached at least 29 soldiers in the recent clashes,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Trillanes also wanted to confirm reports that many of the soldiers sent to Basilan  were undergoing scuba diving training for the  special forces when they were hastily ordered to pursue an MILF commander allegedly holding kidnapped victims.

The Senate, Trillanes said, through the committees on national defense and security; and peace, unification and reconciliation, must likewise look into possible “accountability and culpability on the part of the MILF leadership for the bloodbath which transpired amidst ongoing peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the separatist group.”

The senator noted the conflicting statements of the MILF and the military as to who had provoked the October 18 clash in Basilan.

The MILF claimed that the government troops provoked the fighting while the military claimed otherwise, noting that the incident took place four kilometers away from the rebels’ “area of temporary stay.”

Under ceasefire agreement, government troops should first notify and coordinate with the MILF when they are going to operate in the rebels’ strongholds in search of criminals to prevent accidental clashes.

“There is an urgent and imperative need to inquire into and investigate the foregoing incidents in order to put into place the appropriate mechanisms and policies relating to the ongoing peace negotiations with the MILF with the end in view of preventing similar incidents in the future,” Trillanes said.