Duterte on Samar misencounter between Army, police: Nobody wants it

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday deemed as an accident the "misencounter"  between soldiers and policemen in Samar that led to the deaths of six cops.

"Nobody wants it. Actually what happened there is the Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Just like the misencounter," Duterte said in a speech before Western Mindanao barangay chairpersons in Molave, Zamboanga del Sur.

"Hindi naman sinadya 'yan," he added. 

Duterte said he planned to visit, along with members of the Philippine Army, the wake of the slain policemen.

"Just the same, you have to show the camaraderie, esprit de corps in the uniformed [service]," the President said.  

Elements of the 805th Mobile Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 8 were conducting minor combat operations on Monday morning when it was fired upon by the elements of the Philippine Army's 87th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Lunoy in Barangay San Roque, Santa Rita, Samar.

Six policemen died while nine others were wounded following the misencounter. There were no casualties on the Army's side.

A joint investigation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense is already underway.

According to Interior officer-in-charge Eduardo Año, the joint inquiry will seek explanation from concerned officials on why prior communication and coordination were not made between local military and police forces in the conduct of combat operations in the area.

"There are existing protocols between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in field operations. We will try to determine why these were not followed and if these need review and modifications," said Año, a former military chief.

The DILG chief also extended his condolences to the bereaved families of the slain cops while assuring that financial assistance will be immediately released. — RSJ, GMA News