SULTAN KUDARAT – The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group has finally released to the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team its own report on deadly clash between its forces and police commandos in Maguindanao province.
The fighting killed 44 members of the Special Action Force and also 17 MILF members, including 3 civilians and several Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano town.
The police commandos had killed Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir in a top secret operation deep inside an MILF territory, but were ambushed by rebels that sparked daylong clashes that even President Aquino – who authorized the anti-terror mission – failed to stop.
The MILF submitted its report to the Malaysia-led International (Ceasefire) Monitoring Team on March 22. The IMT is also composed of representatives from Japan, Indonesia and Brunei, and supported by the United States and European Union.
The MILF launched its own probe into the January 25 clashes after lawmakers accused the separatist group of breaking the truce it signed with the Aquino government when its forces killed members of the elite Special Action Force in the remote village of Tukanalipao in Mamasapano town.
“This report was submitted to the Head of Mission of the International Monitoring Team,” said MILF Vice Chairman Mohagher Iqbal, who is also the Front’s chief peace negotiator. “It’s a comprehensive report.”
He said the IMT will also forward the report to Kuala Lumpur being the facilitator of the peace talks between the MILF and the Philippines, and also to the Aquino government through its government peace negotiator Miriam Ferrer.
A copy of the 38-page report furnished by the MILF to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner, also blamed police authorities for the clashes, saying the commando operation was not coordinated with the MILF despite an agreement between the cease-fire committees of both groups; and that it violated the truce.
Iqbal said: “What happened in Mamasapano on that fateful January 25 was a violation of the cease-fire agreement by the Philippine government because there was no prior coordination with the MILF as far as the SAF (Special Action Force) operation was concerned.”
The report also denied that MILF members mutilated or beheaded police commandos, and said members of the Special Action Force even used the slain bodies of policemen as shield during the fighting.
While the report blamed the police for the fighting, the MILF also acknowledged that its commanders from the 105th and 118th Base Commands failed to detect the presence of Zulkifli and Filipino terrorist Basit Usman, who hid near their base and even used a thatched house in Pembalkan village previously owned by an MILF member – Ustadz Baguindali – who died in 2008; and their failure to detect the entry of police commandos in the area.
“The MILF and civilian residents in Mamasapano did not know that Basit Usman and Marwan were in their community. The house in which Marwan was found and killed belonged to Ustadz Baguindali, who had died in 2008. The MILF did not know that Marwan and Usman had moved into Barangay Pembalkan. When Marwan was killed, he was with the group of Basit Usman, in the vicinity where the BIFF and the break-away group (Justice for Islamic Movement) of Mohammad Ali Tambako (who was captured recently in General Santos City) are based,” the report said, adding, the area is 3 kilometers away from the MILF combatants in Tukanalipao village.
The report said the MILF had in 2005 ordered both Zulkifli and Usman to leave MILF camps and communities after both men were tagged as “terrorists.” The MILF denied it coddled Zulkifli or protected Usman. “This policy of cleaning its ranks of terrorists has not changed and is the very reason why the (Philippine) government has continued negotiating peace with the MILF,” it said.
It said the MILF will not surrender those involved in the fighting with police commandos because it has the sole to impose sanctions on its members.
In the end, the report recommended to the MILF to file a protest with the Aquino government against the Special Action Force for violating the cease-fire agreement. And for the government to further investigate PO2 Christopher Lalan, of the Special Action Force, for killing four MILF members who were shot dead in their sleep inside a mosque in Tukanalipao village, and a civilian Mohammad Ambilang.
It said new security mechanisms must be immediately put in place by both the government and MILF peace panels to prevent future clashes between security and rebel forces.
The report was prepared by the MILF Commission headed by Ustadz Said Abdusalam whose members included Hussein Muñoz, Toks Ebrahim, Von al-Haq and Ustadz Abu Ubaidah Agkong.
Many groups were demanding President Aquino’s resignation over his failure to prevent the fighting. Aquino called the daylong clashes between commandos and rebels as a “misencounter” between friendly forces.
The MILF signed a peace accord last year, but the peace process is yet to be completed with passage of Bangsamoro Basic Law now pending in Congress following the carnage. Lawmakers shelved the BBL until investigations into the deadly clashes between Special Action Force and MILF is completed. The BBL is important in crafting a new Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Aside from the multi-sectoral groups demanding Aquino to step down, lawmakers also wanted him to resign – accusing the President of covering up the deadly clash despite being told by the Special Action Force about the fighting. There were also rumors of a coup d’état and widespread demoralization among members of the police and military.
The Mamasapano clash drew widespread condemnation and is now threatening not only the peace process, but the presidency as public outcry for Aquino’s weak leadership continues to mount. (Mindanao Examiner)
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