Close-in bodyguard killed Marwan – PNP 'asset'

 

A day before the Senate reopens its inquiry into the infamous Mamasapano clash of 2015 that killed over 60 people, including 44 policemen from the PNP Special Action Force (SAF), an alleged police informant claimed that suspected Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli “Marwan” Abdhir was gunned down not by the SAF commandos but by his own close-in bodyguard.

In a report by Jiggy Manicad on GMA-7’s “24 Oras” on Tuesday, a certain “Richard” claimed he has been helping the police since the time of retired PNP director-general Hermogenes Ebdane.

Ebdane, now the governor of Zambales, was director-general of the PNP from July 2002 to August 2004.

Richard claimed his first mission was to help rescue abducted Italian priest Fr. Luciano Benedetti in 2007. He also claimed to have helped in capturing suspected Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi.

Richard said he first met former PNP chief Allan Purisima when he was still the operations chief of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER).

He said Purisima reached out to him in 2014 to hunt down Marwan. He was tasked to get to know the terrorist and earn his trust. The mission was dubbed as Oplan Kalilintad, a local term for peace and stability.

While meeting with Purisima and former police intelligence chief Charles Calima in planning Oplan Kalilintad from April to November 2014, Richard met an alias Cocoy who was said to be Marwan’s neighbor and and an alias Temtem who is said to be a sibling of a commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter.

Cocoy later got in touch with a childhood friend, Datukan Singgagao, who became Marwan’s close-in bodyguard.

“Meron din ako kasi kababata doon sa mga escort niya. Kaya iyon na naman ang nilapitan ko para mabuo at ma-accomplish ang misyon,” he said.

“Binibigyan pa iyon ng budget ng [Camp] Crame para hindi siya magsawa doon sa loob hangga’t ma-accomplish ang plano,” he added.

Richard said that he and Cocoy signed a confidential agreement with Purisima and Calima to kill Marwan in exchange for P50 million, which would come from the reward money earmarked by the US for the capture or killing of the suspected terrorist.

The plan was for Singgagao to kill Marwan during his sleep. The planning of Oplan Kalilintad overlapped with that of Oplan Exodus, which was undertaken by the PNP-SAF.

In the Mamasapano incident, Marwan was fatally shot in the chest. His finger was cut off and sent to the US for forensic verification.

Consequently, 44 elite SAF policemen were killed in the mission. Also killed were 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters, and five civilians.

Cocoy said that those involved in Oplan Kalilitad knew about SAF’s role in the operation.

“Alalay lang iyong commando, iyong SAF commando pero ang sabi ko hindi na pasukan iyong ano [kuta ni Marwan] para wala nang ma-damage na buhay,” he said.

Cocoy said that it was Singgagao who killed Marwan by a single shot to his chest and cut off his finger. 

Singgagao, however, was killed perished in the clash between SAF and Moro groups.

Before Singgagao died, he was able to call Cocoy and inform him about his situation. Cocoy then went to Singgagao and retrieved his body.

“Siyempre, isa tao ko siya at ayoko rin na makita doon na kasama doon sa bangkay ba,” he said.

Cocoy said the legal team of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who instigated the resumption of the Senate probel, already got his side on how the Mamasapano clash transpired.

GMA News tried to get the side of Purisima, Ebdane and Calima but they could not be reached as of posting time. —Trisha Macas/APG, GMA News