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There are times when it’s difficult to do the right thing, so we thank the people who manage to do it despite the dangers they face.
“A concerned civilian handed over some of the items that he got from the site of the January 25 encounter between Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) commandos and Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao,” reports Albashir Saiden on ABS-CBNnews.com.
According to Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, police chief of Maguindanao, the civilian — whose identity will not be revealed for security purposes — turned over 1 Kevlar Helmet, 1 ballistic plate and a radio communication device.
The report noted: “The equipment will then be turned over by the Maguindanao police office to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.”
Jocson, as the report indicated, “appealed to civilians on the ground to return any more equipment of the PNP-SAF that they found.”
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 are currently doing probes on the Mamsapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal.
