mysteries remain in saf tragedy

Sad day Tears, similar to those shed by a member of the elite Special Action Force, always fall when the tale of their ill-fated colleagues in Oplan Exodus four years ago is relived. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

January 25th, 12:05am January 24th, 11:11pm Chito Lozada

Several questions still beg for answers four years after the tragic Mamasapano bloodbath that claimed the lives of 44 gallant Special Action Force (SAF) troopers, even for the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) body which investigated the incident.

Retired police Director Benjamin Magalong, chairman of the PNP-Board of Inquiry (BoI), said the main unresolved issues were — Why did they (the military) not fire artillery? What happened in Zamboanga City? What was the content of the cell phones (of those in communications during the skirmish)?”

The investigations held, both by the PNP-BoI and Congress, failed to get detailed interviews from former President Benigno Aquino who said all he could reveal were already made in his public addresses following the tragedy.

When he was appointed to head the BoI that probed into the case, they were given only a month to finish the task, Magalong, who is now seeking to become Baguio City mayor, said.

“I still have numerous questions, but it (investigation report) was the best that we can do in one-and-a-half months. If we were given adequate time, four or five months, we would have uncovered more facts. It would be very impossible to uncover the critical issues and pieces of evidence given only a month. We should have established more facts about the case, uncover a lot more of the critical issues, more pieces of evidence and that would have given us a better picture of what really happened,” Magalong explained.

The PNP-BoI was composed of Magalong as chairman, Director Catalino Rodriguez and Chief Supt. John Sosito as members. An Operational Audit Team was also formed led by Senior Supt. Robert Po as team leader with Senior Supt. Ronald de la Rosa, Senior Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Senior Supt. Benigno Durana and Chief Insp. David Joy Duarte as members.

Magalong said there were around 40 policemen who conducted interviews and around 50 investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who were trained on “prosecutorial intelligence” and a talent for “cognitive interviewing techniques,” “burning their lashes” for the target date to be met.

The slain troopers were part of a 475-man SAF unit that successfully raided the secret hideout of Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, a Malaysian terrorist and bomb maker, in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao on 25 January 2015.

Noynoy missed this Special Action Force members who were killed in the 25 January 2017 Mamasapano clash with Muslim rebels arrive in coffins at the Villamor Airbase. ROY PELOVELLO

Retired police Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, who was then deputy SAF commander at that time, said the highly top-secret military operation named “Operation Exodus” was carefully planned before it was launched targeting the high-value target Marwan, dead or alive. The SAF commander then was Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas.

Only a handful knew about the top-secret military operation “Oplan Exodus.”

Among them were Aquino and suspended Police Director General Alan Purisima. Even then PNP officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina was kept in the dark about the military operation.

Taliño said he was at the tactical command post monitoring closely the ongoing operation “Oplan Exodus” wherein Marwan was killed during the fighting. The operation was highly successful as Marwan was killed.

Before withdrawing from the area, the SAF cut a finger of Marwan as evidence they had killed the Malaysian terrorist who was also wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States.

However, during the withdrawal something cropped up when SAF troopers were ambushed by terrorists hiding in the tough Mamasapano terrain.

The highly-trained SAF troopers engaged their ambushers in a daylong fierce gun battle.

Though they were cornered and encircled, the SAF troopers made a heroic stand, holding their ground and returned fire bullet-for-bullet until the 44 SAF men were mortally wounded.

It was during this fighting that the SAF troopers showed their fighting skills, outnumbered but never outfought.

Many of the terrorists were also killed and dragged by their comrades after the fighting.

What was distressing for both former police officials was that the military was not informed beforehand about the mission until the last minute when fighting erupted between the SAF and the terrorists who ambushed the SAF troopers.

During the hearing conducted by Congress on the Mamasapano massacre, Napeñas claimed they informed the military “on time on target” whatever that means.

The military, however, said “time on target” means their artillery is already standing by ready to fire at a moment’s notice. But in this case, there was none.

Members of the board of inquiry and operational audit team submitted to then PNP Officer-in-Charge Director General Leonardo Espina the 125-page fact-finding report on the incident in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Testimonies from 367 persons: 347 from the PNP – 40 of them had key decision-making roles in “Oplan Exodus” –14 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), four from the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities and three others.

There were also support staff who did the transcription of all the interviews which the eight-man team had to read, digest, understand and internalize to come up with the 125-pages report.

“It was physically draining. It would have been fine if they stick to their word that they won’t meddle, but they were moving underground. They talk to BoI members to overrule the findings. It was good the two members were unmoved,” Magalong said.

He said when he accepted the job to head the inquiry, he, along with the others, was determined to ferret out the truth.

There were pressures from some personalities, but Magalong said “we cannot be influenced.”

“There were offers of reward, that we would be profusely rewarded. Very tempting, and it would make you think of the good it would do to your career, but at the end of the day, there are many things that you have to consider – for one you have to protect the integrity of the organization, you have to give justice to the victims and give justice to the families. Those were our basic consideration,” he said.

The findings were submitted on 13 March 2015.

“January 25 is a day of mourning for me. I can still remember the text message that said they were in a battle and I couldn’t do anything. Then I could no longer contact them. I tried to get in touch with everyone, but nobody could provide real-time information, which saddened me,” Magalong said.

He said the wounds of the tragedy are still fresh, not just because he was a policeman, but because he used to be a former SAF trooper himself and the founder of the Seaborne, an elite group of SAF troopers.