The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed that it was the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) that should be taken into account for violating the ceasefire with the MILF regarding the January 25 Mamasapano encounter where 44 PNP-SAF members were killed.
In its 35-page report to the Senate, where the MILF detailed the results of their investigation into the Mamasapano incident, the MILF said that it should in fact be the one filing a protest against the PNP for violating the ceasefire rules.
“The MILF should file a protest regarding the violation of the ceasefire by the PNP-SAF,” the MILF report said. “The coordination that is required under the Operational Guidelines was not undertaken by the GPH.”
“Without the coordination, the gun battle was inevitable when the two armed groups crossed paths, especially after the BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Fighters) was fired upon by the PNP-SAF,” it said.
The MILF probe report also claimed that the MILF had tried to enforce the ceasefire call in the afternoon of the January 25 encounter in Mamasapano, but that it was already too late at the time.
The MILF report said that Ustadz Goma relayed the call for a ceasefire in the afternoon of January 25, about twenty minutes after they have entered the cornfields where the fighting between the PNP-SAF and the MILF had been going on. Their purpose then was to retrieve the bodies of their fellow MILF fighters who had been killed in the encounter
“After about twenty minutes of retrieving the dead bodies of their fallen comrades and of collecting war booties, one of the MILF men was able to receive a call from 105BC commander Ustadz Zacaria Goma informing him of the order for a ceasefire,” the MILF report said.
It said the MILF Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) did its best to call for a ceasefire at around 1:30 p.m. of January 25.
“But there were so many circumstances obtaining in the encounter site that hampered its efforts,” it said.
Among these difficult circumstances cited were the difficulty in communications in the encounter site because of weak or intermittent cellphone signals, drained cellphone batteries because of an alleged power outage the night before, and the ongoing fierce fighting between the MILF and the PNP-SAF at that time when the CCCH people were trying to intervene.
“It was happening in an open field and had evolved into a battle of survival for the combatants. The ceasefire mechanisms were not coordinated through the protocols under the ceasefire agreement.
The report further recounted how a certain Ustadz Wahid Tundok tried to get the message for a ceasefire relayed in the area where the fighting was happening. It said that he tried to tell some of the MILF men in the field to stop fighting at around 1:30 p.m. of January 25.
“From this account, it is clear that the 105BC (or 105th Base Command of the MILF) upon receipt of the order to stop firing, immediately ceased shooting at the 55SAC (or 55th Special Action Company of the PNP-SAF). There were no lapses in heeding the call for a ceasefire,” the MILF report said.
“Unfortunately, it was already too late as most of the SAF’s 55 SAC had already been killed in the course of the intense fighting even before the order for a ceasefire had been received on the grounds,” the MILF report further said.
The investigation also concluded that it was the MILF’s CCCH who first informed their counterparts in government about what was happening in Mamasapano, and on the need to go to the site immediately so they could intervene and stop the fighting.
The MILF’s Special Investigation Commission that wrote the report cited the Operational Guidelines for the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and article 2 of the GRP-MILF Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities that stated the need for prior coordination of the government with the MILF forces when there are operations in their areas. (Eagle News Service)