Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirms what Senator Antonio Trillanes IV earlier revealed
OUT OF THE LOOP: 6TH Infantry Division commander Major General Edmundo Pangilinan. Photo by Mark Cristino/Rappler
In a new twist to the complicated story of Mamasapano, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Monday, March 23, confirmed that a police Special Action Force (SAF) officer invited to dinner military ground commanders on the eve of the bungled operation that killed 67 Filipinos including 44 elite cops.
The SAF officer
brought the commanders out of Maguindanao Saturday night, January 24, to have
dinner in Koronadal City (formerly Marbel) in South
Cotabato province. It was 10 pm on the same night that the SAF
Seaborne unit – the 84th SAF company – jumped off to penetrate the trecherous
terrain of Mamasapano.
The SAF operation
was kept a secret from
the military until the troopers engaged hostile forces in the area the
following day, January 25.
"Totoo
'yung nilabas nila 'yung battalion commander ng 45th [Infantry
Battalion] at saka yung [601st brigade] brigade commander si
Colonel Feliciano. Inimbitahan ng isang SAF na mag-dinner sa
South Cotabato ," Gazmin told reporters on
the sidelines of the celebration of the 118th anniversary of the Philippine
Army. (It is true they
invited to socials the battalion commander of the 45th [Infantry Battalion] and
the 601st Brigade Commander Colonel Melquiades Feliciano. A SAF officer invited
them to dinner in South Cotabato .)
This was first revealed by Senator
Antonio Trillanes IV, a former Navy officer, to radio station dzMM.
Lamenting the incomplete report of the Senate, Trillanes revealed what was
discussed during one of the executive sessions in the Senate.
Trillanes claimed
the SAF officer supposedly got them drunk to make sure the military will not
conduct operations the following day when the SAF launched its manhunt against
bomb makers Malaysian Zulkifli bin hir or "Marwan" and Filipino Abdul
Basit Usman.
The Army's 601st
brigade and 45th infantry battalion are responsible for the security situation
in the municipality
of Mamasapano
In the wake of
the tragedy, sacked SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas blamed the military
for refusing to provide artillery support. The police Board of Inquiry report
said the military hesitated because of the peace process.
The military said
they cannot fire the cannons if the information on the ground is not complete.
(READ: 'American tried to give orders
in Mamasapano')
Armed Forces
chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr also confirmed the dinner but refused to
elaborate.
Catapang said it
was normal for policemen and soldiers to drink together but only if they have
no operations the following day. He stressed that the soldiers did not know
about the SAF operation.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/87714-saf-dinner-soldiers-eve-mamasapano-operations
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