Mamasapano reinforcement took time, DND chief admits

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Chief Voltaire Gazmin on Thursday admitted that it was not easy to provide reinforcement to police commandos under heavy fire from Moro rebels in Mamasapano town on Sunday.

It took more than three hours before military personnel from the 6th Infantry Division made their way to the location of the police Special Action Force (SAF), Gazmin said in a state news report.

He said that there was scant coordination by the SAF on the operation that organizing troops to serve as back up took longer.

The operation targeting two Jemaah Islamiyah-linked terror suspects, Malaysian bomb maker Marwan and Filipino bomber Basit Usman, resulted in the death of 44 SAF commandos who were attacked by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in two separate locations.

The military was criticized for being slow in reinforcing the SAF men despite the longstanding ceasefire between the Armed Forces and the MILF.

Gazmin said that soldiers in the area were positioned to secure main supply routes and could not easily leave their designations.

A minimum force would still be needed to protect the road nets from possible attacks, he explained.

The SAF requested for back up units from their military counterparts around 5 a.m. Sunday, half an hour after their first encounter with Marwan.

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Light armor units and recon company from the 6th Infantry Division, however, only arrived at Mamasapano at 8:20 a.m. and reached the positions of SAF units in the afternoon.

Gazmin said military units were clueless on the locations of the SAF members, who were scattered in neighboring villages.

The defense chief said that greater coordination is needed in similar operations in the future as the villages were known enclaves of the MILF and the BIFF. - Camille Diola