After revealing last week that there is an alternative version of events in the Mamasapano incident that is “undergoing very intense scrutiny” President Benigno S. Aquino III admitted on Tuesday (September 15) that the “alternative version” of the deadly incident may be “totally false” after all.
“Gusto kong idiin, hindi kami nagsasabi nitong ‘alternative version’ ay sigurado na kami itong totoo. We are not discounting the possibility na baka totally false ‘yung alternative version,” President Aquino said.
Some 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF), 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants, and at least five civilians were killed in the Mamasapano encounter.
SAF members clashed with the MILF, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) during their operation to neutralize Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known as commander Marwan.
Recent reports said Marwan may have been killed by one of his own aides and not by the SAF troopers.
But, director Benjamin Magalong, the former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who headed the Board of Inquiry (BOI) that investigated the botched SAF operation, said he was standing by the police finding that Marwan was killed by the police commandos.
Now, President Aquino said, he wants to know which among these stories is true.
‘Yung official ba na kinuwento ng SAF ang talagang lahat na nangyari, kumpleto? Itong ‘alternative’ ba ang mas kumpleto or may idadagdag doon sa tinatawag na ‘narrative’? Puwede bang parehong mali at merong pangatlong version?” Aquino asked.
Aquino said the government is looking for witnesses who could prove or disprove “certain observations.”
He, however, refused to reveal details regarding the leads being pursued.