Mamasapano mayor disputes Napenas' claim on MILF casualties

From InterAksyon (Feb 10): Mamasapano mayor disputes Napenas' claim on MILF casualties



Mamasapano Mayor Ampatuan at the Senate hearing February 10, 2015. Photgraphed by Bernard Testa, InterAksyon.com

Mamasapano Mayor Datu Benzar Ampatuan on Tuesday disputed the claim of sacked Special Action Force (SAF) chief Getulio P. Napenas that at least 250 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) died during the Battle of Mamasapano.

Mayor Ampatuan told journalists that there were no bodies to support Napenas' claim. He said this after attending the second public hearing of the Senate committee on public order chaired by Senator Grace Poe investigating the Mamasapano incident.

"It's difficult to tell. We didn't see that many bodies of the MILF, so we find it hard to validate the claim that 250 MILF fighters died," Ampatuan said.

Ampatuan said that he would tend to stand by the official report by the MILF Committee on Cessation of Hostilities who was on the ground during the extraction of the dead SAF commandos. "The official MILF count was 18 dead and 14 wounded."

Napenas, in his testimony last Monday, indicated that the combined MILF-BIFF forces suffered no less than 250 dead.

"When we finally made it to the battle site, the MILF casualties have already been cleared from the scene; only the bodies of the SAF commandos remained," Ampatuan said.

Ampatuan relayed to the Senate panel the chronology of events on the part of the local government unit from the time they first learned about the incident as reported by the barangay chairman of Barangay Tukanalipao.

In his testimony, Ampatuan said that the villagers first heard shots from the area controlled by MILF at around 5 a.m. of Sunday, January 25.

The barangay captain rushed over to inform the municipal government about the armed clash.

"Around 7 a.m. on that day, representatives from the military and police came to the municipio of Mamasapano to inform the local officials of the operation ostensibly to arrest Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known by the moniker "Marwan," Ampatuan said.

The mission used unmarked or private vehicles and there were no marks to identify them as SAF units, Ampatuan said.

Ampatuan said that they tried to stop the clash but the fighting was too intense at the area of the clash.

"No civilian could safely approach the scene of the firefight from morning up to about 1 p.m.," Ampatuan said. "Napakalakas ng putukan sa loob baka tamaan sila ng stray bullets (the firing was so intense there was a chance you'd be hit by stray bullets)," he added.

At around 1:30 to 2 p.m., members of the Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCH) from both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) arrived to accompany the local officials in entering the area.

"Around 3 p.m., they (CCH) updated us regarding arrangements for the ceasefire and at around 5:30 p.m., we started to extricate the bodies. We requested the PNP and the AFP units not to come along in order not to inadvertently provoke a flareup of hostilities that might jeopardize the lives of any survivors, if any," Ampatuan said.

Ampatuan said that aside from the members of CCH, the ceasefire team was accompanied by representatives of the International Monitoring Team from Malaysia, Indonesia and Norway to retrieve the remains of 44 SAF members.

Mayor Ampatuan, when asked by Senator Pia Cayetano during the hearing, explained that, in the initial hours after combat died down at the scene of the encounter, there was no definitive indication yet that Marwan was among casualties of firefight.

Even before the encounter, Mayor Ampatuan shared, the alleged safe-house used by Marwan was in a remote spot that was not easily accessible. That, coupled by the intense firefight raging throughout the morning until past noon, made it difficult to gain access to the site of the battle.

"The site is isolated by two rivers that also had islets, which you had to pass through in order to get to the site. It is difficult to negotiate."

Mayor Ampatuan also remarked that the terrorist bands were quite elusive, especially with government security forces hot on their trail. "They moved very fluidly, not staying in one place for very long. We did not have definitive information about the possible presence of Marwan in our municipality."

He did acknowledge, though, that the safe-house where Marwan allegedly got cornered was roughly 500 meters from the house being occupied by a local MILF commander.

He also disclosed that there was an "eroplanong puti" [white airplane] flying overhead, adding quickly that he wasn't sure if what was seen was a conventional aircraft or a drone.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104807/mamasapano-mayor-disputes-napenas-claim-on-milf-casualties