MILF leaders do not control fighters–Agfo

From the Business Mirror (Feb 3): MILF leaders do not control fighters–Agfo

THE ambush-killing of 44 police commandos in Maguindanao only showed that the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) exercised no control over its men and, therefore, the government must tread seriously in its peace agreement with the separatist group, a retired and active military and police generals said on Tuesday.

“What we are seeing there is they have no control over their men, weak command and control, and this is the reason it has happened,” retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, president of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (Agfo), said.

The 800-strong Agfo issued a manifesto calling for the investigation of the ambush, filing of charges against those involved, and the declaration and observance of national mourning for the killed members of the Special Action Force (SAF).

The Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Alumni Association Inc.  also asked its 4,000 members to observe a 40-day mourning for the fallen commandos by wearing black arm bands.

Through its chairman, retired Chief Supt. Tomas Rentoy III, the association also asked its active members in the police service to simultaneously file a five-day leave of absence in protest to the slow or weak response of the government to the massacre.

Six of the seven officers who died in the ambush were PNPA graduates.

Adan said there was no reason for the MILF to kill the policemen, more so that it was observing a cease-fire with the government.

“At our end in Agfo, we see no justification whatsoever for them to kill the policemen, for them to destroy the police forces,” he said.

Adan and the Agfo support the investigation that is currently being conducted by the National Police’s Board of Inquiry (BOI), which should determine the involved forces of the MILF and their commanders, and after they were identified, the MILF should turn them over.

If the MILF refuses to surrender its men, then action should be taken, including filing charges against the leadership of the MILF.

“They should be held accountable…the government should use all means to arrest the perpetrators,” Adan said.

No to Aquino appointees in probe body

VICE President Jejomar C. Binay on Tuesday said members of the proposed Independent Fact-Finding Commission on the Mamasapano Massacre should not be appointed by President Aquino to remove doubts on the impartiality of its members.

He said a search committee to be led by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) should choose the members instead.

“While the creation of the body is an important first step in finding out what really happened and to determine accountability, we need to remove any doubt about the impartiality of its members,” Binay said.

“Having the members appointed by the President as proposed by several pro-administration senators will certainly cast doubts on their impartiality,” he added.

Binay said he supports any move that will uncover the truth on the Mamasapano carnage. However, he also warned that having the members of the fact-finding body appointed by the President would only lead to speculations of a whitewash.

“It could fuel speculations that the investigation will lead to a whitewash, even before the probe has started. We need to ensure that the investigating body, from the start, is seen as an independent body,” he said.

Aside from proposing that the IBP, the country’s major lawyers’ group, lead the search committee, Binay suggested that the members of the fact-finding body include former chief justices of the Supreme Court, leaders of Church and religious groups, and eminent personalities.

DOJ probe

JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed on Tuesday that President Aquino has directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to create a fact-finding team that would undertake a case buildup for the purpose of filing criminal charges against Moro rebels involved in the killing of 44 members of the elite National Police’s SAF in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25.

De Lima also denied reports saying that the DOJ is now ready to file charges against certain individuals in connection with the incident.

She said the investigation team will be composed of state prosecutors and other lawyers under the DOJ National Prosecution Service and investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

De Lima added that the investigation panel will closely coordinate with the National Police and with the BOI, which was tasked to determine the circumstances and facts that lead to the death of the 44 SAF commandos.

“We will not be precluded also from gathering evidence so as to help in the case buildup. So, the reports that we are already to file charges against certain personalities, I don’t know where it is coming from,” de Lima said.

Espina to MILF: Return weapons

DEPUTY Director General Leonardo Espina, National Police officer in charge, called on the MILF “to at least show sincerity in its peace talks with the government by returning the equipment of the killed police commandos.”

Espina echoed the persistent calls on the Moro group to turn over the firearms and other fighting equipment of the 44 SAF commandos who were ambushed by a joint group of the MILF and its breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Killing the commandos did not only increase the stock of powerful weapons of the MILF and the BIFF, but even gave them the capability to wage night battle as some had feared.

The gunmen did not only strip the killed policemen of their state-of-the-art automatic weapons, but even took their night-fighting equipment, including night-vision goggles.
“The government must not only demand for the return of the firearms, but even those night-fighting equipment,” one soldier said.

He said the firearms could be easily replaced, but not the night-fighting gear, which only elite soldiers and specialized police units such as the SAF have.

Having such special combat equipment, he said, the MILF could improve its tactical capability, by now allowing its fighters to operate against the government during nighttime.

“It’s hard to imagine what they can do with those pieces of equipment,” the soldier said.

No cover-up–Palace

MALACAÑANG vowed to ensure that there would be no cover-up in the simultaneous inquiries being mounted to determine the facts and identify the perpetrators behind the SAF massacre.

“Any investigative body, whether it’s the [National Police] Board of Inquiry, the Senate or the House, should really seek the truth. That’s the minimum requirement,” Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Lacierda also confirmed that the DOJ is already building up a case against the perpetrators.

In a separate briefing, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. told Palace reporters that the Office of the President had taken note of bills filed in Congress proposing the creation of a fact-finding commission, or a so-called Mamasapano Truth Commission.

“Whatever independent body that may be formed by Congress would find the relevant information that are now being gathered by the following bodies, namely, the National Police Board of Inquiry, the International Monitoring Team and the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, as useful reference for its work,” Coloma said.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/milf-leaders-do-not-control-fighters-agfo/