Foreign Affairs USec. Evan Garcia (right) on Monday, February 23, tells the Senate committee investigating the January 25 Mamasapano clash that the fight against terrorism must be a cooperative effort among all responsible nations. Also in photo is Justice Sec. Leila de Lima. GMA News
The United States was not involved in the planning and execution of the January 25 Mamasapano operation which left 40 PNP-Special Action Force commandos dead, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
“In our own discussions with the US, we have ascertained from our own discussions that the plan and the execution of the operation were 100-percent Filipino,” DFA Undersecretary for Policy Evan Garcia told a Senate inquiry on the deadly operation.
Garcia also stressed that US participation in combat operations in the Philippines is prohibited under the 1987 Constitution.
The DFA official likewise said the Philippines "has been working with the US on military intelligence, training, casualty evacuation and care, and humanitarian and development assistance.”
He, however, did not say whether the US indeed provided intelligence for the Mamasapano operation.
"As to the alleged American participation in the operation in Mamasapano, we respectfully defer to our colleagues on operational details,” Garcia said.
Citing an unnamed source from the PNP-SAF, the Philippine Daily Inquirer earlier ran a report saying that the US provided logistics, intelligence and funding for the so-called “Oplan Exodus.”
The operation involved the arrest of alleged Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was one of the most wanted terrorists of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities claimed killing Marwan, but another suspected bomb-maker, Filipino Basit Usman, was able to escape.
The operation proved costly as 44 PNP-SAF members were killed when they engaged combatants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The MILF said 18 of their fighters were killed in the clash.
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