Canada saddened by bloody Mamasapano encounter

Canada’s top envoy to the Philippines on Tuesday said his government is saddened by the bloody encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao between the PNP-Special Action Force and Moro Islamic Liberation Front which left at least 44 government forces dead.

Last Sunday’s clash — said to be the biggest single-day death recorded for government forces in recent years – happened when the police reportedly failed to coordinate with the MILF, which has members in the area.

The operation was aimed to arrest  most-wanted terrorists Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and Basit Usman. To date, there is no confirmation on whether Marwan and Usman were also killed in the incident. 

 

Officials said the clash was a "misencounter,” while the MILF, which signed a peace agreement with the government last year, insisted their men acted on “self-defense.”

 

“It is very sad to see this happen. All of us share the grief of the government and the Filipino people on what transpired,” Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder told reporters at a media reception.

 

“There were so many casualties and wounded, particularly the Philippine National Police, who were in that situation,” he added.

 

Reeder said he hopes the incident will not complicate the peace process in Mindanao as some lawmakers, tasked to approve a draft law that will create a new and more powerful autonomous region in Mindanao following the signing of the peace deal with the MILF, have signified their opposition to it after the incident.

 

Canada, he said, is awaiting further clarification from the government on what actually took place in Maguindanao.

 

In March 2014, the Philippine government signed a new autonomy deal with the 11,000-strong MILF, which was hailed a milestone in efforts to end decades of rebellion by the largest Muslim insurgent group in southern Mindanao. A Malaysia-led coalition of countries has been backing the peace process for years.

 

“We hope that despite the gravity and depth of what has happened we do believe in the peace process,” he said. “We hope that this won’t derail that process and allow it to go forward, but then again we want to have a better understanding of what transpired.”

 

Canada, Reeder noted, has a special interest in ensuring peace in Mindanao, having pledged to the Philippine government its commitment to provide security and police training once the peace accord is operational.

 

“In the longer term we will want to see this process forward,” he said. “We would like to offer our assistance to that process going forward and we do want to see that process continue.” — Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News