Catapang: AFP there to extricate SAF, not fight MILF

MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. admitted yesterday that military troops were sent to Mamasapano, Maguindanao mainly to extricate the Special Action Force (SAF) policemen and not to join the clash against Muslim rebels.

Catapang said the soldiers deployed to the encounter site had complied with the ceasefire agreement between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“We went there to reinforce them, but the reinforcement was to extricate them, not to join the fight with the MILF or BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) or whatever combat units they were (up against),” Catapang said.

“We signed an agreement that there will be a mechanism that if firing starts, what we will do is to put a stop to the firing first. The purpose of the peace talks is, if there are skirmishes or clashes or engagement, we will (tap) the ceasefire mechanism,” he explained.

Catapang said the peace process does not prevent security forces from conducting operations against terrorists.

“What is important is there is coordination (among the operating troops),” he said.

Catapang reiterated the military provided assistance to the SAF policemen who had figured in the gun battle.

He said troops from the Army’s 62nd Division Reconnaissance Company, 23rd and 45th Infantry Battalions and armored assets from the 14th Mechanized Battalion joined forces with the police commandos at around 9:20 a.m. in Barangay Tukanalipao.

According to Catapang, the military reinforcements were fired upon by the rebels. The terrain in the area also proved to be an obstacle for responding troops, he said.

“The area is really hard to manage or hard to traverse, it is a marshland. We have to come in full force and then of course there was an ongoing negotiation for a ceasefire,” Catapang said.

“Members of the CCCH also entered the area so we want to give the primacy of that ceasefire agreement, that’s why it took time to tell everyone to put a stop to the fighting,” he added, referring to the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities.

Catapang admitted they did not use air assets during the operation because of the ceasefire agreement.

“We cannot do that because there was a firefight. They (MILF) might think that we are reinforcing the SAF and then our choppers will be shot at,” he said.

“We have to make sure that ceasefire will have to be implemented and besides, the pilot would not know where to go. We will just get lost in that marshland.”

Catapang said the SAF had also failed to provide adequate information about the police commandos’ whereabouts.

“They were not telling us the exact location so we had a difficult time locating them,” he said.

The troops, Catapang said, were able to complete the extraction of SAF operatives at around 11:30 p.m.

“It was already dark. We didn’t know the exact area of the (SAF policemen). There was no contact,” he said.

Catapang said the SAF plan to withdraw before being seen failed.

“I think that’s the price we have to pay for not having a well-coordinated plan on how to support them if and when there are problems during the execution of the operation.”