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Just when you think that there will be no more shocking revelations in this case, you get this angle.
“Former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. is denying that his followers were involved in the Mamasapano clash last January 25 which claimed the lives of 44 elite police commandos,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
According to Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, Ampatuan’s legal counsel, the Ampatuans “have been out of power for five years” so their followers “could not have clashed with elements of the Philippine National Police–Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) during a raid against Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir alias ‘Marwan.'”
Topacio said, “The Ampatuans have been out of power for approximately five years, and their resources [are] practically exhausted; therefore they do not have the influence and wherewithal to form and maintain private armed groups.”
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brigadier General Joselito Kakilala had earlier stated that “most members of Ampatuan’s private army have joined the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and its splinter group — the Justice for Islamic Movement, two groups which clashed with the SAF troopers in Mamasapano apart from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).”
Topacio countered, “[My] client decries this latest attempt to demonize the Ampatuan name and their clan, and urges the public to be more discriminating in their assessment of statements coming from different quarters which may have their own agenda to promote.”
The report recalled: “Ampatuan Sr. and several members of the Ampatuan family are detained for the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre — the worst election related violence in Philippine history.”
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF have done probes on the Mamasapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal. It has since been revealed that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and even some armed civilians were also involved in the clash.
