Mangudadatu opposes reopening of Mamasapano probe

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu is opposed to another probe either by the Senate or the House of Representatives on the infamous Jan. 25, 2015 “Mamasapano incident.”

The governor is apprehensive of an adverse impact of another legislative inquiry on the incident, which shook the nation to its core and challenged President Benigno Aquino III’s peace overture with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“Let the wounds caused by that sad incident heal. Let’s put closure to it, move on and help each other move the peace process forward,” Mangudadatu on Thursday told The STAR.

At least 44 operatives of the police’s Special Action Force, 17 MILF members and five innocent civilians were killed in the Mamasapano incident.

The deadly clash, which lasted for 11 hours and affected three barangays in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao, also involved a third group, the brigand Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Mangudadatu, chairman of the provincial peace and order council, said it is the government and the MILF that would have to cooperate in putting an end to the Mamasapano controversy.

“There are mechanisms, mutually designed by both sides, on how to bilaterally handle security problems in certain areas in Mindanao. We can make these mechanisms work,” Mangudadatu said.

It was Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile who moved for another probe on the incident by the Senate, slated January 25, the first anniversary of the carnage.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, said initiating another inquiry on the incident would not do the peace process any good at all.

“It could be an investigation in aid of election, not legislation,” Jaafar told reporters on Thursday, without elaborating.

A popular broadcast outfit in Central Mindanao, the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC), reported Jaafar as saying that the MILF had long concluded as a "closed book" the Mamasapano incident.

“We consider that very unfortunate Mamasapano incident closed,” the Cotabato City-based NDBC quoted Jaafar as saying.