US FLYING AMBULANCE US military personnel help carry wounded members of the police Special Action Force to a helicopter on Jan. 25 for transport to a hospital in Camp Siongco from the Shariff Aguak provincial police command in Maguindanao province. FERDINAND CABRERA/CONTRIBUTOR
The US Embassy in Manila on Tuesday denied claims that an American serviceman was killed in the tragic Mamapasano raid on Jan. 25.
“There were no US service member casualties,” US Embassy spokesman Kurt Hoyer said in an e-mail.
Hoyer was reacting to reports attributed to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) suggesting that American soldiers were involved in the botched raid in Maguindanao province in which 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos were massacred.
A video footage of the recovery of the fatalities in the raid purportedly showed a “Caucasian” among the fatalities. At least 18 Moro rebels were likewise killed in the SAF operation to take out Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan.”
“The operation was planned and executed by Philippine authorities,” Hoyer said. “The US government consults regularly with Philippine security forces on issues of mutual interest,” he said, adding that questions about the operation should be directed to the Philippine government.
Earlier speculations about the US participation in Mamasapano were fueled by sightings of a US-contracted, noncombat Evergreen Bell helicopter immediately after the encounter.
Assisted in evacuation
Referring to this, Hoyer said, “At the request of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, contract personnel serving in JSOTF-P (Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines) responded to assist in the evacuation of casualties after the firefight.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier said that US involvement in Mamasapano was well within the framework of its Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines.
A Senate inquiry previously issued a report which contradicted the statements of the DFA and the US Embassy. The Senate report which came out in March after an inquiry said the operations were not 100-percent planned and implemented by Filipinos.
“The testimonies of various resource persons, particularly during the executive hearings, provide indications that the US had significant participation in Oplan Exodus,” the executive summary of the Senate report said, referring to the Mamasapano operation.
‘Alternative version’
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday said government investigators were continuing to look into the “alternative version” of the Mamasapano debacle, but she declined to elaborate if probers had established US involvement in the operation.
“If it’s [American involvement in] actual combat [you are inquiring about], that’s different, that’s questionable, but I don’t want to be making comments because the reporting [by you in the media] might again take a different course,” De Lima told reporters.
She said what she remembered from the investigation was that the Americans were involved in intelligence-sharing and medical evacuation.
“If it’s only that, there’s nothing being violated, especially since we’re partners with the US in our fight versus terrorism,” she said.
Mestizo?
Asked about the supposed video of the Caucasian killed in the clash, she replied, “Is he really Caucasian? If that video is authentic, the question is, is he really Caucasian? He can be a mestizo Filipino.”
De Lima declined to release further details on the video and American involvement, saying she did not want to “exacerbate the situation,” following a negative reaction by police officers and other politicians on the “alternative version.”
The justice secretary, however, also defended President Aquino’s decision to include the “alternative version” in the ongoing investigation.
“As explained by the President, we just want to make sure we have the complete facts. Is that really the real version? There’s nothing bad in looking into other information and leads. The so called alternative version, is it true? Maybe not. Or maybe some of it matches the real truth that [our team of investigators] have established,” she said.
The joint team from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service earlier recommended the filing of a complex case of direct assault with murder and robbery against MILF fighters and other armed groups for the massacre of the SAF men.
De Lima indicated that government investigators would not use the MILF report on the incident because it was not supported by affidavits and other documentation. The MILF report claimed that the target of the police operation, Marwan, was killed by his aides and not by the lawmen.
“We were furnished the MILF report but what I noticed there is that while there were factual observations and narrations there’s no supporting testimony—who the witnesses are who provided those accounts,” she said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday appealed to those in possession of photos and videos about the Mamasapano encounter to release these to authorities.
“As far as I know, there are pictures, GoPro [videos], videos not just from the drone but also from the ground. As much as possible, these should be brought out so that we could put an end to the issue,” Recto told reporters.
He said he would support the reopening of the Senate investigation into the massacre. “If there’s anything new they could show us, we’re always open to look into that,” he said.
House leaders on Tuesday said the video purportedly of the Caucasian man was not sufficient to reopen the congressional inquiry into the massacre.
No basis
“We need strong evidence and witnesses, but so far, there’s not enough to support an ‘alternative version’,” of the events, said Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, chair of the House public order and safety committee.
“We cannot just reopen the Mamasapano probe based on flimsy evidence. It must be supported by evidence, and I mean strong evidence,” he said in a phone interview.
In April, Ferrer’s committee launched a probe on the Mamasapano fiasco jointly with the House peace, reconciliation and unity committee chaired by Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman. The panel convened only twice, but never released a committee report to the public.
Ferrer said he circulated a draft committee report among core members on May 13 after the investigation was terminated. “It has not been finalized because we need more discussion on it,” Ferrer said.—With reports from Leila B. Salaverria and DJ Yap