100 to be indicted over Mamasapano massacre – Aquino

(Updated 5:42 p.m.) At least 100 individuals will be held responsible over the bloody encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25, where 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) were killed, President Benigno Aquino III himself said Tuesday.

 

“There is over a hundred, I think, that will be indicted over this. We are meeting probably by next week to get all of the specifics,” Aquino said during a forum organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
 

The Aquino administration has been criticized for the supposed slow justice over the massacre of the SAF 44. 

 

In April, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said they are recommending the filing of charges against 90 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and private armed groups for the soldiers' massacre.

Aside from the 44 police commandos, 18 members of the MILF and five civilians were killed in the encounter.

But Aquino said he is still studying an “alternative version” of what transpired during the police operation to serve an arrest warrant on Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.

“Do I have closure? I still have quite a number of questions, and there are various agencies of government tasked to ferret out the truth of exactly what happened in its entirety,” he said.

“There is an alternative version of events that happened there, which is undergoing very intense scrutiny. We are looking for witnesses that will prove or disprove certain observations,” Aquino added.

 

The SAF operatives were sent to Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano to neutralize known Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.

 

In February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the DNA samples it received from Philippine authorities came from Marwan.

 

The lead SAF team that raided the hut of Marwan cut one of his fingers as proof of the suspected terrorist leader's death.

 

The policemen were ambushed by suspected MILF fighters as they were retreating from Marwan's hut in Barangay Tukanalipao.

 

Other teams of the SAF were also ambushed by armed men, allegedly a mix of MILF and BIFF fighters. —ALG/KBK, GMA News