Findings on 'friendly fire incident' in Marawi sent to AFP Major Services

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 15): Findings on 'friendly fire incident' in Marawi sent to AFP Major Services

Facts ascertained by the Board of Inquiry (BOI) that is looking into the "friendly fire incident" in Marawi City, where 10 soldiers perished and seven others were wounded, have already been forwarded to the AFP Major Services, military public affairs office chief, Col. Edgard Arevalo, has said.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) inspector general, Maj. Gen. Rafael Valencia, said he had already forwarded their initial findings to AFP Chief-of-Staff Gen. Eduardo Año last June 9.

Arevalo said in an interview that the decision to forward the initial BOI results to Major Services, in this case the Army and Air Force, was based on the fact that these units are the ones providing the military personnel, aircraft, pilots and maintenance.

"It is up to Major Services to determine what adjustments will be done on techniques, tactics, and procedures, and if there are some faults or discrepancies among personnel, then Major Services will determine the extent of their liabilities. If there are faults in the equipment, then it is their responsibility to give the feedback to the supplier," he added in Filipino.

A SIAI-Marchetti SF-260 light attack plane was on its fourth sortie against the Maute Group last May 31 when its bombs accidentally hit Army troops, killing 10 and wounding seven others.

Valencia however declined to give details of their findings as some of these information have some implications on the ongoing operations in Marawi City where government forces continue to battle remaining Maute Group terrorists.

"Actually, one of the recommendations is to hold the (release) of the findings while combat operations in Marawi City are still ongoing. We don't want to endanger the lives of our troops. That is one of my recommendations to the Chief-of-Staff," he said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/995537