Criminal raps filed vs 90 SAF ‘killers’

MANILA, Philippines - A government fact-finding team yesterday filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal charges against 90 commanders and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups over the death of policemen in the Mamasapano encounter last January.

In a memorandum-referral, the special investigating team of prosecutors and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents recommended the prosecution of the respondents that included 13 commanders of the MILF and six commanders of the BIFF for the complex crime of direct assault with murder.

The charges covered the cases of 35 slain Special Action Force commandos who belonged to the 55th SAF company that engaged MILF and BIFF fighters and private armed groups in the cornfields of Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

“These 90 respondents acted in conspiracy with one another to attack, employ force, seriously intimidate or resist the 35 Philippine National Police SAF commandos, who were uniformed police officers and thus, persons in authority,” read the formal complaint.

The cases of the nine other slain commandos from the 84th SAF company in Barangay Pidsandawan, as well as the five civilians and 18 MILF fighters who were also killed during the clash and the reported US involvement in the operation, are still undergoing investigation.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the complaint would undergo preliminary investigation to determine probable cause for the filing of the non-bailable case in court.

De Lima also said the names of the respondents were not made public to prevent them from evading possible prosecution.

The DOJ chief revealed that the investigating team based the report on accounts of eyewitnesses, including one alias Marathon who identified the liable MILF and BIFF commanders. Marathon has been placed under the witness protection program.

The videos of the encounter that circulated in social media also helped in the investigation. The sources have been traced.

Based on the results of the probe, De Lima said the killings of the SAF commandos appeared to be “spontaneous and not an institutional act of the MILF.”

She expressed belief that the respondents could be summoned to the preliminary investigation proceedings in the DOJ through the MILF leadership or the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.

De Lima further explained that while the fact-finding report was completed last April, probers needed more time to gather supporting evidence and validate the findings. She cited as a reason the “alternative version” on the Mamasapano bloodbath that was floated earlier.

“The filing of the charges was actually ready since over a month ago, but there were supervening events like the alternative version, which needed to be checked first. But now that the executive department dismissed it, we may now proceed with the filing,” she said.

There were initially over 100 names tagged in the probe, but the investigating team dropped a few names for lack of evidence.

The report said the Mamasapano bloodbath was neither a massacre nor a “misencounter,” rejecting the findings of the MILF.

“In the team’s appreciation of the facts and available evidence, the incident was not a massacre as graphically described by the Senate nor a simple misencounter as clinically suggested by the MILF. Rather the complicated truth is somewhat in between these two extremes,” the report said.

Among the salient findings by the team was that the 55th SAF company fired the first shot that started the firefight at the cornfield in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano.

“There was a pintakasi by the MILF, BIFF and private armed groups against the 55th SAC. By 8:00 a.m. of Jan. 25, 2015, the MILF, BIFF and private armed groups who fought the 55th SAC members already knew that they were engaged in a firefight with police officers. Some 55th SAC commandos tried to surrender, but the MILF, BIFF and private armed groups continued firing at them until the commandos would no longer fight back because many of them were already dead and those still alive were severely wounded,” the report stressed.

“After the firefight, MILF elements crossed the river over to the cornfield to finish off the dying 55th SAC members,” it added.

‘Raps vs MILF should not affect peace process’

Malacañang and De Lima expressed confidence that the preliminary investigation would not affect the ongoing peace process between the government and the MILF, believing that the rebel group would cooperate in the legal processes.

“Despite the peace process, it was clear with the President that we need to exact accountability on those liable for the deaths. Perhaps the MILF will understand that,” De Lima said.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office also reiterated that no one is above the law.

“Our negotiations with them (MILF) will not be affected because what the government is doing is implementing the law on all Filipinos,” he added.

Coloma also said that the Aquino administration is still committed to the peace process, including the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law that will be the legal basis for the creation of an autonomous Bangsamoro entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. – With Delon Porcalla