Youth group: US ‘repeatedly lied’ on involvement in Mamasapano mission

MANILA, Philippines—A militant youth group on Thursday asked state officials to initiate an investigation on the role of the United States in the botched Mamasapano mission after the Philippine National Police-Board of Inquiry (PNP-BOI) and the Senate concluded that Americans were involved in the operation which killed at least 67 people.

Anakbayan Chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said that the investigation will ferret out the truth from US officials who “repeatedly lied” on the participation of the US in the “Operation Exodus” and hold them accountable.

“Clearly, the reports revealed that the US directed the operations and that they used Filipinos as pawns in their terror war. The repeated lies and denials made by Ambassador (Philip) Goldberg and the US officials are clear insults to our sovereignty and our people. They should be held accountable for their meddling which resulted (in) this bloodbath,” Crisostomo said in a statement.

He said that the probe will also shed light on US intervention in the country.

“We call on Senators, Congressmen and Philippine officials to conduct a special investigation on the US intervention in the country. The deep involvement of the US in the Mamasapano incident further shows that US has been using Visiting Forces Agreement, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and other lopsided treaties to conduct illegal ‘black operations’ in the country, using our people as cannon-fodder. This must be stopped,” he added.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier cleared the US of its reported involvement in the said mission, saying that the “planning and execution of the operation was 100 percent Filipino.”

However, the results of separate investigations by the BOI and the Senate both revealed that some American military officials were involved in the operation, with the BOI identifying six American “nationals” present in a command post of the Special Action Force in Maguindanao hours before the military launched its offensive in Mamasapano.

In the Senate report, Senator Grace Poe said that the “testimonies of various resource persons, particularly during the executive hearings, appear to contradict the statement of the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) that Oplan Exodus was 100% purely Filipino planned and implemented.”

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