Relieved Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force chief Director Getulio Napeñas on Wednesday insisted that high-value terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman were living in a controlled territory of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) when the operation to arrest them was launched by the PNP SAF.
Napeñas in a television interview described as “totally unbelievable” the MILF’s claim that they did not know that Marwan and Usman were in their area for the past years until an operation to arrest them in Mamasapano town was carried out by the PNP SAF on January 25.
“Ustadz Manan is living 400 to 500 meters away from them. How could he not know they are meters away from their residence...? Saying they didn’t know (that) Marwan and Usman were in their area, that’s totally unbelievable,” Napeñas said.
Napeñas was referring to MILF 7th brigade commander Ustadz Manan, who, Napeñas said was living just a kilometer away from the hut where Marwan was shot dead by the SAF’s 84th Seaborne during the Mamasapano operation. Usman’s hut was just a few meters away from Marwan’s.
Usman, however, managed to evade the SAF troopers during the Mamasapano operation.
Napeñas said Marwan and Usman’s huts were located at Barangay Pinsandawan in Mamasapano town. He said this village is under the control of the MILF’s 105th Base Command.
“It is impossible that the MILF doesn’t know that Marwan and Usman were in that area,” Napeñas said.
In its 35-page report, copy of which was submitted to the Senate on Tuesday, the MILF maintained that Marwan and Usman were residing in the territory of the rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and not in the MILF-controlled community.
"The house is found in Barangay Pembalkan, Mamasapano, which is more than 3 kilometers away from where the MILF combatants were living in Barangay Tukanalipao. It is not at [the] area where the MILF has presence or control," the report said.
Napeñas said this claim of the MILF “is untrue” as the PNP SAF has been tracking down the location of Marwan and Usman since early 2014.
“We started working against Marwan and Usman in 2014. They were staying in (Barangay) Libutan, Mamasapano in the middle of MILF 105th BC. In June 10, they transferred to Pidsandawan. Ustads Manan is living 400-500m away from them,” Napeñas said.
Napeñas said the PNP-SAF has two videos that can prove his claim that Usman and Marwan were living within the MILF-controlled community.
“There were two videos obtained and given to us. First is the video of the location where Marwan, Usman and a Malaysian were staying. The other video was taken by the person who conducted the survey along the route toward the target area,” Napeñas.
Napeñas said these videos were used by during the planning of the SAF mission dubbed as “Oplan Exodus”.
The operation went awry after the SAF commandos were overpowered by the combined forces of the MILF, BIFF, and private armed groups. The incident left over 60 people dead including 44 SAF troopers, 18 MILF members, and five civilians.
Napeñas, however, did not reveal who supplied the two videos to the PNP.
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