Board of Inquiry: Clash report will satisfy families of SAF 44, surviving troopers

Members of the Philippine National Police' Board of Inquiry are confident that relatives of Special Action Force troopers killed in a firefight in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on Jan. 25 will be satisfied with the results of their probe.

 

In a phone interview with GMA News Online on Saturday, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and concurrent BOI chairman Director Benjamin Magalong confirmed that the BOI has finished its report.

That report will be submitted to PNP Officer-in-Charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina on Monday.

 

Asked if report will answer questions that the families of the slain commandos and and of surviving troopers, Magalong said they will be satisfied as their probe was done "in the most truthful manner."

 

He, however, declined to divulge information on BOI's findings.

 

For his part, Chief Inspector David Duarte, a member of the BOI's Operational Audit Team (OAT), said the team submitted their part of the report to Magalong on Friday.

 

"The OAT has submitted its report to the BOI," he told GMA News Online in a text message. "I believe it is ready for submission."

 

Duarte, along with Senior Superintendent Robert Po, also of the OAT, said the families of the slain commanders and survivors would be satisfied with their work.

 

"Yes, those are within the parameter of our objectives and generally within our scope and limitations," Duarte said.

 

'To answer all questions'

 

Magalong, meanwhile, said once they submit their report, Espina might transmit their findings to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on the same day.

 

"Desisyon niya iyon kung kailan niya ipapasa, pero baka within the day lang din siguro," he said.

 

On Wednesday, Roxas said he reminded Magalong that the report must answer the questions asked by SAF troopers.

 

"Una, matino ba ang plano, ginawa ba at nagawa ang lahat para masiguro ang kaligatasan ng mga tropa," he said. "Mayroon ba at kung mayroon man, ano ang role ng mga Amerikano?"

 

Roxas added that the report should answer whether former Special Action Force (SAF) commander Director Getulio Napeñas, along with former PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima, did indeed commit operational lapses by not following President Benigno Aquino III's instructions to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines on the mission.

 

"Sinunod ba o sinaway ang mga utos ng pangulo kina Napeñas?" he added. "Sa equipment, sa mga radyo, mga bala, helmet o vest 'di gumana ng maayos, ano ba gumana rito?"

 

When asked if the BOI has fulfilled Roxas' reminders, Magalong said: "Yes, we did, he will also be satisfied."

 

On Friday, Roxas promised to submit a copy of the report on the Mamasapano incident to the president and to the Senate as soon as he receives it.

 

Roxas added that he will also furnish copies of the report to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), Department of Justice (DOJ), Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and other bodies investigating the incident that resulted in the deaths of 44 Special Action Force commandos.

 

Forty-four elite policemen died during the Mamasapano clash with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the splinter group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and some members of other armed groups in Maguindanao.

 

At the time, the police commandos were on a mission to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifi bin Hir alias Marwan of Jemaah Islamiyah and Filipino bomb-maker and Abu Sayyaf member Basit Usman.

 

Marwan was killed during the police raid on his hideout, but Usman was able to escape. — JDS, GMA News