Magalong: Remember the sacrifice of the fallen SAF 44

BAGUIO CITY– “Let us remember their selfless sacrifice precisely for us to continue pursuing the ends of truth and justice in every public endeavor we serve,” said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong in today’s sixth anniversary of the Mamasapano massacre that claimed the lives of 44 troopers of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF).

Magalong was the former Chairman of the PNP Board of Inquiry tasked to investigate the botched “Oplan Exodus”  against the most wanted terrorist Zuklifi Abdhir or Marwan in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. 

Of the 44 SAF troopers, 15 of them were from the different areas of the Cordillera. He said the Cordillerans are one in community with their families in remembering the ultimate sacrifice for democracy and freedom to flourish, regardless of cost.

“I recall having stood our ground in sparing no one from having been responsible for the incident, based on truthful accounts . True to the principles of public accountability, members of the Board of Inquiry released a credible report regardless of dire consequences to career and ambition, but simply for the nation to know the truth and for the SAF 44 and their families to achieve justice,” he stressed.

In 2015, the fallen SAF 44  were deployed in hinterlands of Mamasapano, Maguindanao to neutralize Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan.