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“The House of Representatives inquiry into the Mamasapano clash was suspended as the chamber wanted to wait for the results of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Board of Inquiry (BOI) investigation on the botched operation that left 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) dead,” reports Marc Jayson Cayabyab on Inquirer.net.
Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, who chairs the House public order and safety committee conducting the probe, explained, “In consultation with the chamber leadership and party leaders, we arrived at the consensus to suspend hearings on the Mamasapano incident pending the release of the findings of the board of inquiry. This is to avoid premature conclusions.”
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.
Photo: News clip
