Two Cebuanos among the slain

CEBU, Philippines - Two Cebuanos were among the 49 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force members killed in a “misencounter” with Moro guerillas in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Sunday.

The PNP identified them as Police Officer 1 Romeo Cempron from Tayud, Consolacion town and Police Officer 2 Wendell Candano from Lawaan, Dumanjug town.

And as Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu appealed for sobriety among the families of the SAF members killed in the encounter, the Police Regional Office–7 and all its allied units, including the Cebu City Police Office and the Cebu Police Provincial Office, lowered their flags at half-staff in honor of Cempron and Candano and the rest of the massacred policemen.

Last Monday, Philippine National Office officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina ordered all police camps and offices to lower their flags.

All military camps across the country were also ordered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. to have their flag fly at half-staff effective yesterday, as anguish gripped the families of the policemen, some of whom were allegedly finished off with rifle shots to the head.

One of those in grief was Christine Abucay-Cempron, who asked for an in-depth fact-finding investigation into the incident.

She said she, along with other grieving family members, want to know the real story behind the unfortunate incident.

Christine also appealed for the government to give proper attention to the policemen so a similar encounter would not happen again.

The MILF claimed the policemen, who were chasing a “high-value” fugitive, went inside its territory without coordinating with the group.

Christine, though, disagreed, saying there is a long-standing ceasefire agreement between the government and the MILF.

She believed that something was wrong with the operation following supposed reports that the elite SAF members from the special unit called ‘Seaborne” were allegedly used as bait by the PNP high-ranking officials.

The ill-fated policemen were after two wanted terrorists—Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known as “Marwan,” and his ethnic Maguindanaon cohort Basit Usman—in Tukanalipao district west of Mamamsapano town.

Christine said her husband informed her of the mission, but she did not know that the SAF members were working on their own and not with the military, similar to their previous operations.

It was only on Sunday evening when she started to worry because her husband did not reply anymore to her text messages.

She said the last text message she sent was answered by one of Cempron’s colleagues who informed her of the shocking news.

Christine and Cempron tied the knot on June 22, 2013 and do not have a child yet.

Candano, though, left behind a seven-year-old son, who celebrated his birthday the day before the policeman was killed.

Dumanjug town Councilor Meriam Llaño, Candano’s cousin, told the FREEMAN that they heaved a sigh of relief at first because initial news reports mentioned a different first name, not Wendell.

“Lahi man ang giingon nga ngalan maong nahuwasan gyud mi ato,” Llaño said over the phone.

Their initial relief, though, later turned into sorrow after they got confirmation that it was really Wendell who died along with 48 others in an ambush, allegedly by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and by the MILF.

Villagers alleged that some of the policemen wounded in the fatal clash would have survived if their attackers did not finish them off with rifle shots to the head.

Folks from Barangay Tukanalipao said more than a dozen wounded SAF members were executed by rebels as they tried to crawl away from the scene.

“Pagkatapos silang barilin sa ulo isa-isa, pinulot ang kanilang mga baril at iniwan na ang kanilang mga bangkay,” said a peasant, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Another source, who asked to be named only as Hamim, said some rebels even stumped on the heads of the slain policemen before firing shots to finish them off gangland style.

Llaño said Candano, who last saw his son in December after going home for Christmas and for his younger sibling’s birthday, could not even come for his son’s birthday last Saturday because of the operation.

She said the “caring and kindhearted” policeman’s greatest prayer was for his son to have a good future and education.

With Candano gone, the boy, aside from having to grow up without his father, now faces an uncertain future.

The body of Candano, 33, will be brought to Cebu Friday morning.

 “Ang iyang asawa may moadto sa Manila, unya amo na lang sugaton dinhi,” Llaño said.

Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia said the town would facilitate transporting the body by sending a  funeral car to ferry the body from the Mactan Benito Ebuen Airbase to their town. 

As of press time, the cadavers of the more than 40 members of the police’s elite SAF were at the mortuary of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Police forensic experts said many of the slain policemen had gunshot wounds in the head with powder burns in the bullet entry points, indicating they were indeed shot at close range.

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma expressed hope that there would be no more families that will lose the fathers and husbands to the conflict.

“What happened to our brothers really saddens me. Unta dili na,” he said.

“We know nga…deep in our hearts we are peace-loving people and, as we say, hopefully that (encounter) should not be repeated,” he added.—Grace Melanie I. Lacamiento, Michael Vencynth H. Braga, Jessa J. Agua, Decemay Padilla of Banat News, Philippine Star News Service/RHM