‘Up to DOJ to pursue probe on SAF 44 killers’

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is leaving it to newly appointed Justice Secretary Benjamin Caguioa to pursue the case against the fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) involved in the killing of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) policemen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

“The Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking continuing action to pursue justice for fallen SAF troopers,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on Friday in reply to observations of several sectors, particularly former President Fidel Ramos, that the MILF members involved in the killing remained scot-free.

Ramos, who was among the co-founders of the SAF in 1983, lashed out at the government for failing to give justice to the 44 SAF commandos killed in the line of duty.

Ramos lamented the failure of the DOJ to identify and account for all the Muslim rebels involved in the killing, including Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and some armed civilians.

Ramos issued the statement Thursday at the launching of the “First FVR Golf Classic,” a fund-raising campaign at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club.

The former president and a group of retired generals organized the event to help fund the schooling of orphaned children of the fallen SAF 44.

The DOJ earlier filed criminal cases against 90 members of the MILF, BIFF as well as members of private armed groups, most of them still unidentified.

Former justice secretary Leila de Lima said the DOJ team of prosecutors and National Bureau of Investigation agents had failed to establish the identities of the gunmen involved in the killing.

De Lima said they cannot file the charges since no one has positively identified the men who figured in the encounter with the SAF commandos.

Indecisive

Meanwhile, Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian scored yesterday the Aquino administration for not being decisive enough to arrest the 90 suspects in the Mamasapano incident.

“There is no final closure of the Mamasapano incident because of the lack of follow-up or hot pursuit against the 90 persons identified in the criminal case filed by the DOJ. The case will just be put to waste if none of the 90 suspects get arrested and undergo trial,” Gatchalian said.

He said De Lima should have sought the help of all law enforcement agencies as well as the Armed Forces in making sure that all the 90 suspects behind the massacre are apprehended so they can have their day in court.

Gatchalian, who is running for senator, said the administration is apparently just paying lip service to the heroism of slain police officers.

He said it would be hard for the families of the SAF 44 and for the entire rank and file of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to move on as long as there is no assurance that justice will be served.

Gatchalian also expressed support for the conferment of the much-delayed recognition on the SAF 44 as well as those who survived the bloody encounter.

Administration and opposition lawmakers had earlier sought the conferment of the Medal of Valor to some, if not all, of the 44 slain SAF men and the other commandos who survived the highly dangerous mission to neutralize top international terrorists Julkifli bin hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman.

The Medal of Valor is the PNP’s highest award for gallantry and bravery.

Republic Act 9049 states that a Medal of Valor awardee is entitled to a lifetime monthly gratuity of P20,000. The children of an awardee shall also be given scholarships to the Philippine Military Academy or the Philippine National Police Academy and are given priority if they want to be employed in the government. – With Paolo Romero