Report on Samar 'misencounter' out soon — Albayalde

MANILA, Philippines — The Board of Inquiry (BOI) is finalizing its report on the misencounter between police officers and soldiers in Sta. Rita, Samar on June 25.

“The BOI will submit its report as soon as possible... It is being finalized so there will be one report coming from both the PNP (Philippine National Police) and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines),” PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde told a press briefing yesterday.

Army soldiers mistakenly killed six police officers whom they thought were New People’s Army (NPA) rebels operating in the hinterlands of Sta. Rita.

BOI Director Rolando Felix, who is concurrent chief of the Directorate for Police Integrated Operations, said forensic experts conducted an analysis on the cellular phones of the policemen and soldiers involved in the misencounter.

Felix said about 50 persons – 17 from the AFP and 33 from the PNP – were involved in the incident.

Felix and other BOI personnel conducted an ocular inspection in Sta. Rita and interviewed several police personnel  in the area.

“What we have established so far is there was coordination. But whether or not this coordination reached the people who should have been informed has not yet been determined,” Felix said.