Catapang assures House panel of AFP report on Mamasapano incident

MANILA, Philippines – Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told the House of Representatives Bangsamoro committee that the military has finished its official incident report on the Mamasapano clash which killed 44 elite policemen in a clash with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Catapang faced the ad hoc Bangsamoro committee Tuesday to assure the body that the AFP is willing to coordinate in sharing its findings on the clash that was downplayed by government as a “misencounter.”

He said the report will have to go through Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and then to President Aquino before it becomes an official report.

“We’d like to assure our honorable congressmen that indeed we have finished our report but it has to pass through the chain of command,” Catapang said.

“Rest assured, the report is already finished, it needs just to be signed by me and forwarded to defense secretary,” he added.

Catapang admitted that there was lack of coordination between the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP), precisely because the operation was kept secret by the Special Action Force.

He said the AFP sent reinforcements but it was too late in the firefight to save the doomed police commandos.

“There was a lack of coordination in the part of the forces that entered Mamasapano… We were informed when they were already being engaged by the enemy,” Catapang said.

The PNP, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were criticized by the House body after they all failed to submit satisfactory incident reports on the clash Monday night.

Only the AFP submitted a report Tuesday but Bangsamoro committee chair Cagayan De Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez found the report lacking.

Rodriguez urged the agencies to comply with the body’s request for documents, otherwise the body will have to stall the passage of the bill if they fail to do so.

The ad hoc committee wanted the concerned agencies to submit their reports on the clash to help the body in their decision whether or not to continue with its deliberations on the bill, the passage of which was rocked by the involvement of its main benefactor the MILF.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. himself said the involvement of the MILF somehow eroded the trust of the House on the bill, a result of decades of peace talks with the MILF for the creation of a more politically autonomous Bangsamoro entity.

The attack happened on Jan. 25 when cops from the Special Action Force were sent to Mamasapano, Maguindanao to take down Malaysian international terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir alias “Marwan” and local terrorist Abdul Basit Usman.

But the police commandos were fired at by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and armed elements of the MILF 105th Base Command, killing 44 elite cops and 18 MILF fighters.

Authorities had downplayed the attack by MILF as a misencounter and a result of the lack of coordination. MILF lead peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal meanwhile said the attack by MILF was only an act of self-defense as the police commandos were in an MILF territory.

The Philippine Army failed to send reinforcement during the attack as it was supposedly kept in the dark about the covert operation by police director Getulio Napeñas, the sacked SAF commander who was said to be at fault for keeping the mission secret.

Reports also came out that suspended police chief Alan Purisima called the shots in the botched operation with the blessing of President Aquino himself.

Rodriguez on Wednesday sent separate letters to the AFP, PNP, OPAPP and ARMM local government, listing questions that the Bangsamoro panel wanted answered in their official reports.

Rodriguez wanted the AFP to answer about the extent of its reinforcement to the SAF, the knowledge if any of Gazmin, Catapang and the Western Mindanao Commander about the incident, and the extent of participation of the MILF and the BIFF in the attack.

He also wanted to know about the reported alliance between MILF and BIFF, as well as the alleged coddling of the MILF of the two wanted international terrorists.

Rodriguez had an even more extensive list of questions for the PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina. The solon wanted the PNP to divulge the details behind “Oplan Wolverine,” the operation to capture the two wanted terrorists supposedly kept secret from authorities.

The representative also wanted the PNP to explain if it coordinated with the AFP about the incident.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, wanted Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles to answer what she knows on illicit activities allegedly involving the MILF, including the supposed gun manufacturing in MILF camps and the sale of these to rebels and other lawless elements, and an alleged alliance with its terrorist breakaway group BIFF.

He also wanted Deles to answer what time the OPAPP was informed of the clash and what were their actions to enforce a ceasefire.

Lastly, Rodriguez wanted ARMM governor Mujiv Hataman to explain the degree of MILF control in the areas where the encounter happened, and to answer whether or not he received information on the incident and what his actions were in responding to the incident.

Rodriguez gave the agencies until Feb. 9 to submit their detailed reports.