Probers blame lack of Marine coordination for ambush
The joint investigating body of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) blamed the military for its failure to coordinate with the rebel group that led to the ambush of 14 Marines in Albarka, Basilan last July 10.
An official privy to the investigation revealed the findings that indicate the Marines entered MILF territory without informing the rebel group, which provoked the clash.
The findings also indicate the military had failed to obey the provisions of the ceasefire agreement to coordinate all anti-crime operations on MILF-held territories.
The 14 Marines were part of a contingent searching for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi when they were waylaid by MILF guerrillas.
The MILF said the Marines entered their territory without permit and provoked a firefight. Ten of the slain soldiers were beheaded.
The MILF owned up to the killing but denied beheading the soldiers.
The incident caused a strain in peace negotiations between the government and the MILF, which had rejected the military demand to turn over the rebels behind the ambush.
The official said the findings are contained in the 14-page report submitted by the joint independent fact-finding committee before the GRP-MILF joint panel of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostility which initiated the investigation.
The government’s Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea and Vol Al-Haq of the MILF, however, declined to make public the result of the investigation.
MILF chief negotiator Mohaquer Iqbal maintained the clash was not an ambush but a legitimate encounter between the rebels and the Marines.
Al Haq later confirmed the findings, pointing out the lack of coordination on the part of the Marines forced the rebels to counterattack.
“That is one of our findings. There were lapses in coordination on the part of the Marines. If there was coordination, there would have been no encounter,” he said.
Al Haq said the rebels were forced to engage the Marines since they thought they were being attacked.
“It was not an ambush. The Marines were in position and the MILF misconstrued it as assaulting,” he said.
The official, however, revealed the joint investigating body failed to establish who were behind the killing of Matarul Hakim Alkanul, hours before the ambush.
According to the MILF, the Muslim priest was tortured and killed by the Marines.
“The assailants of Imam Alkanul cannot be ascertained beyond reasonable doubt considering that there were conflicting testimonies. But the fact remains that his body was recovered from the side of the Marines,” the source said.
The military has denied any involvement in the death of Alkanul, saying the Muslim cleric was helping them in locating the kidnapped Italian priest.
Bossi was kidnapped by armed men in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay province on June 10. He was released more than a month later in Lanao del Norte.
Bossi had claimed his kidnappers never took him to Basilan.
Serving the warrants
Even as the investigation report on the incident has yet to be made public, police and military forces have began tactical preparations to serve the warrants for the arrest against those behind the ambush that included some MILF leaders.
The military has poured in some 5,000 troops in Basilan to provide support to the police in serving of the warrants of arrest.
An additional battalion of troops from the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team arrived in Basilan on Saturday as residents prepared to evacuate on fears of getting caught in a crossfire once the offensive starts.
Aside from the Marines, an Army battalion, a Scout Ranger Company and intelligence operatives from the Philippine Navy’s Special Warfare Group are also in Basilan to provide assistance during combat operations.
Disaster officials, on the other hand, are mapping out contingency and relief operations for residents who will be displaced by the military operations in Basilan.
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) executive director and Office of Civil Defense administrator Glenn Rabonza said they are monitoring the situation of residents already displaced by the military preparations in the province.
Rabonza said at least 3,000 families fled their villages from the towns of Albarka, Guinanta and Tipo-Tipo on fears of being caught up in a military assault.
Defense Undersecretary and NDCC executive director Ernesto Carolina added a number of residents in Shariff Kabunsuan province also fled their villages in anticipation that the fighting between the government troops and the MILF might spill over to
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