MANILA – Rep. Arnel Ty has urged President Benigno Aquino to direct the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Justice to conduct a joint comprehensive investigation into the January 25 deadly police commando operation in the southern province of Maguindanao.
The anti-terror operation left 44 Special Action Force commandos in the village of Tukanalipao in Mamasapano town after they clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front members while trying to flee after killing Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir.
The MILF accused commandos of attacking its forces in the village that resulted to daylong fighting.
“The immediate formation of a joint DILG-DOJ Incident Investigation and Review Committee, or IIRC, similar to the one created with regard to the Luneta episode, will enable a swift and thorough inquiry into the Mamasapano bloodbath, which has roiled the nation,” Ty said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
“Just like the Luneta carnage, we are also hoping that the proposed IIRC’s inquiry into the Mamasapano encounter will be performed openly and visibly to ensure absolute transparency,” Ty said, referring to the 2010 Rizal Park tourist bus hostage-taking fiasco that left 8 Hong Kongers dead after a disgruntled policeman Rolando Mendoza took control of their bus. He was killed by the police in an assault.
At present, Ty noted that the DILG, through a Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry, and the DOJ, through the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Prosecution Service, are conducting two separate investigations into the Mamasapano clash that killed the commandos.
“Two disconnected probes are a waste of time and resources, considering that a more expeditious unified inquiry are viable through a simple presidential directive,” Ty said.
He said whatever facts have been gathered so far by the PNP’s Board of Inquiry and the NBI-NPS may be used by the proposed IIRC on the Mamasapano tragedy.
The public outcry over the deadliest clash in PNP history has prompted the President to address the nation twice on prime-time, live television, in a bid to calm the nation. The tragedy has also forced the President’s trusted aide, suspended PNP Director Gen. Alan Purisima, to resign his post.
Purisima denied he directed the SAF operation without the knowledge of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director Gen. Leonardo Espina.
The Mamasapano clash has also caused demoralization in the PNP, due to the collapse of the chain of command in the planning and execution of the SAF operation. (Mindanao Examiner)
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