DOJ orders filing of cases vs. 88 MILF, BIFF members in Mamasapano massacre case

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the filing of direct assault with murder charges in court against 88 people over the anti-terror operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last year that left 44 police commandos dead.

The 88 respondents—identified by a star witness known only by the code name Marathon and 11 other individuals—belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and private armed groups, according to a resolution prepared by DOJ investigators.

Among those to be charged are Commanders Abdulrahman Abdulrakman Upan, Rakman of the MILF 118th Base Command, Refy Guiaman, Haumves (alias Haves) of the 105th MILF Base Command, Hadji Abdulsalam, and Hadji Mohammad (alias Hadji Muhammad).

Only the deaths of 35 members of the 55th Special Action Company of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force who were killed by the rebels in a clash at a cornfield in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano were covered by the resolution.

No charges can be filed for the meantime for the death of the nine members of the 84th SAF Company in Barangay Pidsandawan due to lack of witnesses, the DOJ said.

The prosecutors noted in the resolution the "conspiracy" among the people involved in the ambush of the police commandos.

"It must be noted that respondents waited for each other before going to the firing line; that the respondents arrived at the same time at the firing line (cornfield) while armed with various high powered firearms; that the respondents deliberately started encircling and shooting the SAF victims from all directions; and that after the attack, the respondents all left together while carrying some of the equipment of the SAF victims--were the overt acts of the respondents showing a common design and purpose to kill the victims in this case," the resolution stated.

On the issue of direct assault, the DOJ said the victims were "atrociously" killed during the gunbattle.

The prosecutors, meanwhile, dismissed the complaint for theft which is still being further investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Rosanne Balauag, Rassendell Rex Gingoyon, Benito Oliver Sales III, and Assistant State Prosecutor Aldrin Evangelista prepared the resolution.

The DOJ was supposed to release its findings in the final months of the Aquino administration but then Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas said in May that they had to deal with "certain sensitivities" first.

"There are certain sensitivities that we are trying to protect. We want to do what is best for everybody as much as possible... There are parties involved. It's not really a political matter," said Caparas, referring to the May 9 presidential election.

Sixty-seven people, including 44 elite cops, 18 Moro fighters and five civilians, were killed when the policemen encountered the armed groups while they were retreating from an operation aimed at neutralizing two terrorists in Mamasapano, a town reportedly under MILF's control. 

The anti-terror assault killed Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, a suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Marwan's right-hand Filipino bomber, Abdul Basit Usman, managed to escape but was later on killed in May 2015 by Moro rebels. —ALG/BM, GMA News