Shooter of wounded SAF member in viral video not an MILF member –Jaafar

The man who shot a wounded Special Action Force (SAF) trooper in the viral video of the Mamasapano clash was not a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an official of the rebel organization said Thursday.

“No MILF members [were] involved in all the videos that were leaked [on the internet],” MILF vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar told GMA News Online by phone, citing initial findings of their investigation on the clash between the SAF policemen and MILF members last January 25.

He said the MILF Central Committee's Special Investigating Team is now finalizing an executive summary of the report. The Mamasapano incident left 44 policemen and 18 MILF members dead.

Jaafar said the executive summary report will be submitted to Malaysia “anytime soon.”

Jaafar said that among the findings of the Special Investigating Team is that no MILF members appeared in the videos of the brutal killing and the firefight with the policemen. He, however, refused to elaborate on how the team came up with such findings.

“Let us just wait for the executive summary report to be finished by the team. Nakakahiya naman na hindi pa nga sila tapos ay ilalabas na natin sa media lahat,” he said.

One video, which has already been taken down from the Internet, showed a wounded SAF member being shot twice in the head at close range by a still unidentified gunman.

Another video showed gunmen laughing and cursing while shooting at the SAF policemen, who trooped to the MILF-controlled area to arrest two high-profile terrorist targets.

If not the MILF, who?

Killings

Jaafar said the MILF's executive summary report on the incident also tackles the alleged killing of four MILF members by PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor from 55th Special Action Company, the SAF team that figured in the encounter.

According to reports, Lalan shot four MILF members and a civilian who were sleeping inside a hut, which turned out to be a mosque, while retreating from the encounter.

Lalan, in an earlier television interview, denied the allegations, saying the people inside the hut were armed and were firing at him and the other SAF troopers.

Jaafar said the MILF Investigating Team also looked into the killing of a civilian farmer who was reportedly held hostage by the SAF at the height of the encounter. He said the farmer's hands were tied when his body was found a day after the incident.

“Yes, kasama din yan sa inimbestigahan nila and I believe that it will also be included in the summary report,” he said.

Jaafar said the report also included the names of some of the MILF members found involved in the encounter. He, however, refused to answer on whether these names would be made public or whether these persons will be surrendered to the Philippine authorities.

Protocol

Jaafar, meanwhile, said that the MILF is not bypassing the authority of the Senate committee on local government, which is chaired by Sen. Bongbong Marcos, when it decided to submit its report first to Malaysia.

“Hindi naman sa bina-bypass natin sila, but we have protocols to follow. Malaysia, as the third-party facilitator in the peace process between the MILF and the Philippine government, must be the one to look into our report first,” he said.

Reports have it that the full report of the MILF has already been submitted to Malaysia earlier this week, but Jaafar refused to confirm or deny this.

“Basta, what I can tell you is we will be submitting the summary of the report to Malaysia soon,” Jaafar said.

On Wednesday, Marcos said that with the MILF's action of submitting the its report directly to Malaysia without furnishing the Senate a copy, will delay the deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Marcos has earlier maintained that his committee will not resume the deliberations on the BBL until the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the MILF submit their respective reports on the Mamasapano incident.

Marcos said his committee will also await the findings of Senate’s own probe on the Mamasapano incident conducted by the committee on public order and dangerous drugs under Sen. Grace Poe.

Asked on whether the MILF will furnish the Senate a copy of the report, Jaafar said: “We will see. The Central Committee will have to decide on it. Intayin muna natin na matapos ang summary report at maipasa sa Malaysia.”

'Tokens'

Meanwhile, Jaafar also admitted that the MILF leadership has given “tokens” to its members and some civilians who turned over 16 of the firearms seized from the slain SAF troopers.

He, however, was quick to clarifiy that neither the MILF nor the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has paid the MILF members and the civilians to turn over the firearms.

“Yes, we may have given them tokens, but we never paid them just to turn over the firearms. Magkaiba yun. We gave them tokens after they turnover the firearms and not the other way around,” Jaafar said, without elaborating on what kind of “tokens” were given.

However, in a television interview, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said these were monetary “tokens” ranging from P1,000 to P3,000 for each of the surrenderee.

In the same television interview, Murad denied the allegation of Fr. Eliseo Mercado, director of the German-assisted Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), that the government paid a total of P100,000 for the return of the firearms.

Murad, like Jaafar, also confirmed that no MILF members were involved in the video of SAF trooper's killing.

“Noong nangyari yoong video na yun ng pagbaril sa wounded na SAF, our men have already withdrawn from the area dahil nagkaroon na ng ceasefire. It was effected already at 2 p.m., so our men withdrew from the area, wala na sila doon. If you notice the video, it is very late afternoon,” Murad said. —KBK/NB, GMA News