NBI may seek US help on Mamasapano clash videos

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) may seek help from the United States to enhance a raw video of the armed encounter in Mamasapano that was uploaded on Youtube.

NBI Director Virgilio Mendez clarified that it is only an option should the NBI’s Cyber Crime Division need help.

“If our Cyber Crime Division can’t do it, we will look for other avenues. The US might be one of our alternatives,” Mendez told The STAR.

The Cyber Crime Division has obtained 10,000 images from the video that shows a member of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (SAF) being finished off with two gunshots to the head.

The six-minute video was believed to have been taken in the aftermath of the Jan. 25 clash of SAF and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and a private armed group in Mamasapano.

Images of the three men with long firearms captured in the footage killing the SAF member were enhanced.

Investigators are establishing their identities and involvement in the armed encounter.

The video uploaded on the Internet has caused outrage, especially from the family of the policeman that was seen being killed in the video. It has been decried as gruesome and insensitive, prompting the NBI and the police to look for its source.

NBI Cyber Crime Division head agent Ronald Aguto said investigators already traced the “general area” of one of the users through the IP address.

“The agents from the regional office, with assistance from central office there, are doing the field work,” he added.

Aguto clarified that it is premature to conclude that the owner of the IP address is the real source of the video. But based on their investigation, the user was one of the first to upload the video on Youtube.

Sen. Bam Aquino urged law enforcement agencies to also double up efforts to stop the distribution of DVDs and VCDs containing the video.-With Christina Mendez