Soldiers given ‘blinded’ order

From the Manila Standard Today (Jan 16): Soldiers given ‘blinded’ order

Troop aid requested 30 minutes before clash

The Army was “blinded” into sending a platoon of special forces as “augmentation force” for a checkpoint operation in Atimonan, Quezon where 13 people were riddled with bullets last January 6, a ranking Army officer said on Tuesday.

The source said a police officer in the checkpoint operation obtained troop support by telephone 30 minutes before the encounter. He said Col. Hansel Marantan talked to Col. Monico Abang, commander of the Army Special Forces, who sent a 25-man platoon in full battle gear “as augmentation for peace and internal security operations against private armed groups.” “Somehow, we (special forces) were blinded by that request,” the officer said. “I think the negotiation for the deployment of Special Forces troops transpired minutes before the shootout as alleged.” He said the Army never received such kind of request in the past and “even if we did, it will take days before it is approved.”

The troops arrived on board a military truck and took positions in the checkpoint. They brought to 65 the total force of military and police, which included 25 from the intelligence office of Calabarzon and 15 policemen from Atimonan and Pagbilao police stations. Shots rang out when two sports utility vehicles arrived at the checkpoint. Among the casualties were a senior police officer and army intelligence operatives.

The National Bureau of Investigation, which took over all physical evidence gathered by scene of the crime operative as official prober, said they were at a loss for words in describing the killings. Neither “rubout” nor shootout was used by the NBI to describe the killings, but the word “ambush” was ruled out. The officer said other than the soldiers in camouflage uniforms, only the Atimonan police chief was in uniform, which was highly irregular for a police checkpoint.

Maj. Gen. Alamn Luga, commander of the Southern Luzon Command, has ordered the 25 soldiers, inclduding Col. Abang and two other officers, restricted to barracks pending investigation of the case, according to Col Generoso Bolina, the Southern Luzon Command spokesman. “In effect, they are not allowed to go on operations, home leave or vacation until the issue is resolved,” Bolina said. He said initial investigations by SOLCOM indicate the Special Forces troops merely responded to a call for assistance by the local police.

“They were told that a group of heavily armed men and gun-for-hire suspects and drug lords were proceeding to the area and their help was urgently needed,” Bolina said. He said among those killed, Vic Siman, an alleged jueteng operator, and Tirso Lontok, a suspected communist rebel, were not in the SOLCOM’s order of battle.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas sacked Chief Supt. James Melad, director of the Police Regional Office in Region Four, for his alleged refusal to cooperate with investigators from the NBI. Also removed from their posts were members of the Provincial Public Safety Company and the Batangas Provincial Intelligence Group, who were allegedly involved in the killing last Monday of Fernando Morales, a close associate of Siman. “There will be no sacred cows. Sorry, but the government cannot be used as a tool to hide the truth from our people,” Roxas said.

He said Marantan, who was wounded in the encounter, refused to submit to investigators, declining to answer questions, and would not allow them to inspect his wounds and kept the slugs recovered in the shootings. “I advise Supt. Marantan to submit to investigators from the PNP or NBI. It’s not good for a man in your situation not to submit to a transparent process so we get to the whole truth in this incident,” Roxas said. Ronald Pidlaoan, Marantan’s physician, said the police officer was wounded in his left forearm, left leg and right knee.

In Malacanang, presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Aquino “has conveyed his assurances that we are serious in getting to the bottom of his incident.”
She said the government would throw the book on Marantan, who was wounded in the encounter and was reported to have declined to submit to a check-up on the wounds he sustained.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/01/16/soldiers-given-blinded-order/