13 of 15 SAF survivors to leave PNP hospital

MANILA, Philippines - Thirteen of the 15 Special Action Force (SAF) policemen who survived the bloody firefight with Muslim rebels in Mamasapano last month are ready to go home after a month of medical treatment, a police official said yesterday.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr. said the two remaining survivors will have to stay in hospital for further treatment, one of whom has shrapnel embedded near his spine.

“The survivors have been discharged after some debriefing. They have been released to allow them to rest and be with their loves ones,” Cerbo said.

One of the two SAF commando survivors is still confined at the PNP General Hospital under observation, since shrapnel is still embedded near his spinal column and one wrong move could leave him paralyzed.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II noted this and assured the survivor of proper medical care.

“A SAF survivor has a piece of bullet near his vertebrae. He is not paralyzed, but one wrong move could paralyze him,” Roxas said.

Roxas directed the PNP hospital authorities to make sure proper medical attention is given to the SAF survivor, whose identity was not disclosed for security reasons.

Roxas said most of the SAF commandos confined at the PNP hospital are operatives of the 84th Special Action Company, the assault team that killed Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in a remote village in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

Roxas said a total of P66.37 million in benefits would be given to families of the slain SAF troops.

He said P34.57 of the P66.37 million has been given to the families so far, mostly coming from the Presidential Social Fund, the PNP, the National Police Commission and the Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc.

Roxas said the remaining P31.8 million is being processed and will be given to the claimants upon complete submission of the required documents. – With Ricky Bautista