DOJ concludes Mamasapano probe

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday concluded its preliminary investigation of 90 commanders and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups tagged in the killing of Special Action Force (SAF) commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

Just like in the first hearing held last Nov. 27, none of the respondents appeared before the investigating panel of prosecutors despite repeated summons sent to the MILF leadership and local officials.

Once again, only two lawyers appeared before the panel to represent only three of the 90 respondents.

Lawyer Ronald Hallid Torres appeared for Mustapha Tatak, a barangay chairman in Sapakan, Mamasapano and civilian Lakiman Dawaling, who is accused of being one of the field commanders of MILF involved in the killing of the 35 SAF men in Barangay Tukanalipao.

The lawyer said his clients are not members of the rebel group as shown in their respective counter-affidavits.

Carlos Valdez, on the other hand, represented alleged MILF field commander Pendatun Utek Makakua, who denied the charges saying he was a farmer.

“I am not a field commander of MILF 118h base command in Mamasapano. I am not even a member of the MILF all my life in any place and finished only sixth grade elementary,” Makakua said in his affidavit submitted to the DOJ by Valdez. He added he has no means to fly to Manila to attend the hearings.

The lawyer also submitted to the DOJ panel a certification from MILF headquarters signed by Abdulwahid Tunduk to support Makakua’s claim.

Three other respondents wrote a letter to the DOJ asking for copy of the criminal complaint.

Apart from the two lawyers, only expert witnesses from the National Bureau of Investigation and Public Attorney’s Office attended the hearing.

The DOJ panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag then decided to submit the case for resolution without the answers from most of the 90 respondents named in the complaint filed by a government fact-finding team last July.

The prosecutors have also set for Jan. 14, 2016 the submission of reply and affirmation of complaints by the families of the SAF victims.

The panel will then come up with a resolution and decide if there is probable cause to warrant the filing of criminal charges of direct assault with murder and theft against the respondents.

Facing the DOJ probe are 13 commanders of MILF and six commanders of BIFF. But the names of the respondents were not made public so as to prevent them from evading possible prosecution.

They were accused of acting “in conspiracy with one another to attack, employ force, seriously intimidate or resist the 35 SAF commandos, who were uniformed police officers and, thus persons in authority.”

The fact-finding team of prosecutors and National Bureau of Investigation agents based the report on accounts of eyewitnesses – including alias Marathon – who identified the liable MILF and BIFF commanders and agreed to be placed under the witness protection program.

Viral videos of the bloody encounter have helped in the investigation.

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

The charges covered only the cases of 35 of the SAF men of the 55th SAF company that engaged in firefight MILF and BIFF fighters and private armed groups in the cornfields of Tukanalipao.

Last October, the fact-finding team released its second report involving the cases of 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. No one was charged because the investigators failed to secure witnesses to identify the killers.  

The SAF commandos were returning to base after killing Malaysian terrorist Julkifli bin Hir alias Marwan when MILF and BIFF guerrillas blocked them and engaged them in a firefight that lasted hours.