The Philippine National Police on Sunday said that the preliminary results of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's DNA testing and analysis conducted on Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, are enough to presume that the international terrorist is dead.
The FBI has repeatedly told the Philippine government that DNA sample from the international terrorist's severed finger will be subjected to further testing and analysis.
"Malinaw naman na consistent ang DNA match kaya 'yung [further examinations] confirmatory na lang. We have already said that we got our man. Mission accomplished," PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo told GMA News Online in a phone interview.
He added that there is already a "very high probability" that Marwan is dead.
The mission to get the alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on Jan. 25 cost the lives of 44 members of the elite PNP Special Action Force. Eighteen Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters and at least seven civilians also died in the clash between police and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
"Oplan Exodus" also targeted Filipino bomb maker Basit Usman, who managed to escape the bloody firefight that lasted half a day.
Cerbo explained that the body of Marwan has not been retrieved because of the difficult circumstances.
"We just rely on the report of the unit na naroon sa engkwentro. Hindi na kailangang dalhin 'yung katawan dahil sa mga circumstances. Saka nagkaroon ng DNA matching at tumugma naman," he said.
DNA samples from Marwan's severed finger were matched against those of his brother Rahmat Abdhir, who is currently detained in California for terrorism-related charges.
"We just rely on the report of the unit na naroon sa engkwentro. Hindi na kailangang dalhin 'yung katawan dahil sa mga circumstances. Saka nagkaroon ng DNA matching at tumugma naman," he said.
DNA samples from Marwan's severed finger were matched against those of his brother Rahmat Abdhir, who is currently detained in California for terrorism-related charges.
Cerbo could not ascertain when the final result of FBI's DNA matching test will be released.
GMA News Online contacted the US Embassy in Manila spokesperson Kurt Hoyer and official Steven Merrill for more information on the additional tests that will be conducted, but they were not immediately available.
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