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Defense and military officials confirmed the revelation of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV that commanders had wined and dined with Special Action Force (SAF) officials the night before the Mamasapano operations.They could not say, however, what the purpose was for.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters on the sidelines of the 118th anniversary of the Army that a member of the SAF had invited 45th IB commander Lt. Col. Romeo Bautista and 601st Brigade commander Col. Melquiades Feliciano for dinner on the night before the Mamasapano mission.
“(It occurred) the day before the operation,” said Gazmin. He said the dinner took place in Koronadal City in South Cotabato.
He would not comment, however, on the accusation of Trillanes that the dinner was meant to ensure that the Army would not be able to encroach on the operation.
“Ang objective nila doon, para masigurado na hindi mag-o-perate yo’ng Army kasi gusto nilang solohin ang misyon na ito,” Trillanes had said.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang also confirmed the dinner meeting.
He refused to give details, saying: “I am not liberty to talk about that because that was discussed in an executive session and I have to ask the permission of Sen. Grace Poe if I can be allowed to talk about it.”
He said they will try to determine if the accusation to isolate the Army is true.
“We will find out if that is true because we don’t know who made the invitation,” he said.
Nonetheless, Catapang said it is now up to the Senate to assess if the incident was related to the operation.
Meanwhile, Catapang said he has asked Malacanang to re-appoint Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan to his two-star rank. Relieved SAF chief Getulio Napenas earlier alleged that Pangilinan, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, held back the assistance for the troopers. Catapang said he trusts Pangilinan “100 percent.”
“We are asking the President to re-appoint him ad interim until he gets the confirmation of our honorable Commission on Appointments,” he said.
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.
This story was re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
