Duterte: SAF shouldn't have been sent to Mamasapano mission

Members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force should not have undertaken the mission that led to the death of 44 of their members in Mamasapano, Maguindanao two years ago.

This was President Rodrigo Duterte's belief as he addressed their families and widows on Tuesday in Malacañang.

"Bakit ipinadala ang SAF when SAF is geared—organized and geared into the service to meet the challenges of urban terrorism? Urban is urban. Dito lang ‘yan sa siyudad," he said.

"But maybe on a special occasion sent to augment the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Eh ‘yung terrain doon, hindi alam ng pulis. Bakit karaming divisions doon halos ilan ba? Almost… Ilang brigade na doon? And they are practically surrounding the Mamasapano area. Bakit hindi ninyo ginamit ang Army? And why was it under wraps?" he added.

Duterte also scored the officials behind the operation, including former President Benigno Aquino III and former PNP chief Alan Purisima.

"At anong ginawa ninyo bakit you fed the soldiers to the lion’s den, to be eaten by death Kung isa, dalawa lang sana then I could just say na, ‘You know guys, that’s the life of a soldier’," he said.

In the same speech, Duterte also claimed that the operation that resulted in the death of terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan was spearheaded by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. —JST/NB, GMA News