Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin said on Thursday all Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members who
had an active participation in the bloody clash on Jan. 25 in Mamasapano,
Maguindanao must be held liable.
"Even if they are a revolutionary group, they are
living in our country, they are staying in Philippine soil, so they are
considered citizens of the Republic," he added.
"The law must be implemented at all costs," he
stressed.
The DND chief made the statement on the heels of a 35-page
MILF report which puts squarely the blame on the Philippine National
Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) for the incident.
The group earlier said they will not surrender their members
involved in the encounter and instead will mete out their own punishment to
those found liable.
Forty-four SAF members were killed in the Jan. 25 incident
which also resulted in the neutralization of Malaysian terrorist Zulkipli bin
Hir, alias "Marwan."
Gazmin said it is hard to believe that the MILF had no
information regarding Marwan's location in areas they are known to control.
Earlier, the MILF recommended an investigation to determine
the liability of SAF trooper PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor of the
55th Special Action Company, who allegedly killed four MILF combatants while
they were sleeping inside a makeshift mosque in Barangay Tukanalipao,
Mamasapano town.
”The PNP-SAF committed Human Rights violations,” the MILF
report said.
The report added that the MILF forces were fired upon by the
SAF troopers belonging to the 55th SAC, killing two Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces
(BIAF) members Omar Dagadas and Ali Esmael.
The incident triggered a firefight between the BIAF’s 105th
Base Command forces and 55th SAC troopers, who were in the area as blocking
forces for the assault team of the 84th SAC.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=748070
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