The Armed Forces did not sacrifice the SAF 44 to save the peace process – AFP

Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Gregorio Catapang, defended the Armed Forces' actions during the Mamasapano clash during Tuesday's Senate hearing, denying that the AFP sacrificed the lives of the 44 Special Action Force police commandos killed in the clash in order to save the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The AFP has been criticized for failing to reinforce the Special Action Force police commandos quickly enough during the Mamasapano clash, resulting in the death of 44 police officers.

According to a report on GMA 7 news program “24 Oras”, Catapang said that the Philippine National Police's coordination with them came when the SAF troopers were already meeting heavy resistance.



Catapang also confirmed during the Senate hearing that former Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima sent him a text message at 5:51 a.m. of January 25, informing him of the PNP-SAF operation to arrest Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, and Basit Usman.

Catapang then relayed the information to Gen. Rustico Guerero, commander of the the AFP's Western Mindanao Command.

However, it still took several hours for the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division to respond to the SAF troopers.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II was baffled why the AFP, which fired three white phosphorous artillery rounds at 5:48 p.m. to support the SAF commandos, could not have fired those same artillery rounds hours earlier.

“Walang ngang koordinasyon. Pero saklolo na ang tinawag nito, eh. SOS na ito,” complained Roxas.

Catapang explained that they could not fire the white phosphorous any earlier even with a set of grid coordinates provided them by the PNP. “Because there is a protocol before you fire white phosphorous or even live ammo. First you must know the exact location of your 'friendly forces.'”

Meanwhile, 6th Division commander Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan pointed out that they were not initially told that the SAF needed to be reinforced. Rather they were just told the police officers where in a fire fight.

“While we were getting the information na dahan-dahan lang namin po nalaman, kaya nga po tayong nag-reconstitute ng forces, the available forces we had during the time to provide reinforcement,” Pangilinan explained. — Andrei Medina/DVM, GMA News