AFP vows transparency in probe into Samar 'misencounter'

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Tuesday promised transparent investigations into a clash between soldiers and police in Samar that left six police officers dead and nine others wounded.

In a statement shared through state-run People's Television Network, Gen. Carlito Galvez, AFP chief of staff, said the military and police "have already mounted joint and independent investigations and we assure you that these will be transparent and no cover-up will be allowed to happen."

Galvez also said the AFP was extending its "sincerest and heartfelt condolences" to police officers killed in the "misencounter" — a government term for a clash between friendly forces.

The STAR had earlier reported that six police personnel with the rank of Police Officer 1 were killed in the incident in Sta. Rita, Samar on Monday morning.

According to Chief Superintendent Mariel Magaway, regional director for the Eastern Visayas, the police caught in the clash were from Regional Mobile Force Battalion 8 and "were conducting combat operations as part of their training when they were attacked."

The police personnel were attacked by personnel of the Army's 87th Infantry Battalion, which is headquartered in Calbiga town. The soldiers only realized they had mistakenly engaged law enforcement when police reinforcements arrived after a 20-minute firefight, The STAR reported.

The 87th IB conducts operations against the New People's Army but the police official could not say on Monday whether the soldiers had mistaken the police personnel for communist rebels.

"Our efforts moving forward is to assess our existing coordinative processes and systems with our brothers in the Philippine National Police so that similar unfortunate incidents will not happen again," Galvez said.

The term "misencounter" was also used in 2017 to describe a case of mistaken identity where two people were killed after police shot at their vehicle in Mandaluyong City. Police thought at the time that the vehicle was carrying suspects in a shooting incident. It turned out to be transporting the shooting victim to a hospital.