Justice Secretary Leila De Lima
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday questioned the authenticity of the video that surfaced recently, purportedly showing the body of a Caucasian soldier allegedly among the remains of the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who died in the January 25 Mamasapano massacre.
De Lima said the authenticity of the video should first be established before anything else, adding that, once this is done, the next move should be to ascertain whether the fatality was indeed Caucasian or not.
"Let's take a look at that -- if that video is authentic, the next question should be, is he indeed a Caucasian?," De Lima told journalists, said as she appealed to the public not to immediately jump into conclusion.
"We should not jump into speculations and conclusions," she added.
De Lima also said that she will task the task force composed of prosecutors and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who are still investigating the second part of the encounter, involving that the death of the nine members of the 84th Seaborne Company, the main unit that supposedly took down Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir (nom de guerre Marwan) in his hut, to also look into the alleged implication raised by the video.
The task force has already completed its probe on the death of the 35 members of the SAF blocking force in Tukanalipao, Maguindanao.
De Lima clarified that protocol prohibits US troops from actively participating in combat operations in the country.
She said they could only go as far as sharing intelligence and participating in medical evacuation, if requested by their Filipino counterparts.
In a related development, the Department of Justice (DOJ) observed that the report of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the incident "was incomplete."
Although Secretary De Lima said her office was given a copy of the 35-page MILF report, it was notably lacking in supporting evidence, such as affidavits of eyewitnesses.
"While there were findings and conclusions (in the MILF report), there are no other evidence to support it. I have noticed that, while there were factual observations, there was no supporting evidence, like the affidavits of first-hand witnesses," De Lima underscored.
De Lima explained that, while DOJ, through the fact-finding task force composed of state prosecutors and personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), initially considered the MILF report, the lack of these supporting documents meant that it is not going to be of significant formal use.
The MILF report was submitted to the government two months after the January 25 encounter.
The DOJ, for its part, already completed the first part of its report on the incident covering the killing of the 35 members of the SAF 55th Company in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano.
The 55th Company served as the blocking force for the 84th Seaborne, the main unit in "Oplan Exodus" whose objective was to arrest Marwan.
Part Two of the DOJ investigation covered the death of nine members of the 84th Seaborne as well as the death of the MILF members and three civilians.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/117578/de-lima-apprehensive-about-unconfirmed-caucasian-fatality-in-mamasapano
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