File multiple murder charges against the members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters or BIFF who were behind the over kill of Special Action Force commando in Maguindanao last January.
This was what Valenzuela City Congressman Win Gatchalian asked the Department of Justice or DOJ, saying the agency can use the 112-page report of the Philippine National Police or PNP’s Board of Inquiry on the Mamasapano incident.
Gatchalian explained DoJ can file criminal charges against MILF and BIFF members as the report included affidavits of the SAF members, who survived the January 25 bloody encounter in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano town.
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He added that the sworn statements taken from members of the 84th Seaborne Company and the lone survivor from the 55th Special Action Company have pointed to the fact that wounded SAF commandos were finished off by either MILF or BIFF members.
“The DOJ can already use the affidavits of the SAF survivors to file murder charges against those responsible for killing wounded SAF commandos. The wounded SAF troopers could have survived if they were given medical treatment by the MILF under international humanitarian law,” said Gatchalian.
The Valenzuela City lawmaker noted DOJ can also file additional charges of robbery or theft against MILF and BIFF members, who took away the firearms and personal effects of the dead SAF commandos, including their uniforms, which was confirmed from the photos taken during the retrieval of the bodies.
“The DOJ should immediately act against MILF and BIFF members who have shown their barbarity with the way they killed the wounded and robbed the dead of their personal belongings,” Gatchalian pointed out.
“I believe there is already sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of criminal cases as soon as possible,” he insisted.
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Gatchalian said another evidence that can be used against the MILF is the firearm of Police Officer 1 Joseph Sagonoy, the wounded SAF commando shown in a viral video being shot twice in the head.
PO1 Sagonoy’s Ferfrans caliber 5.56mm SOAR (special operations assault rifle) was among the 14 M-4 rifles returned by the MILF.
The six-minute video clip, entitled “Story Behind Mamasapano,” was uploaded by a certain Zaldy Baldz Suson. The video, believed to be taken by one of the attackers, showed a wounded PO1 Sagonoy on the ground, being shot several times until he was dead.
After Sagonoy’s death, the attacker then proceeded to the other dead troopers, and also stripped them of their gear and equipment. The video, which draw flak from angry netizens, also showed other gunmen taking the gear of other SAF troopers on the ground.
“The PNP-BOI’s confirmation that one of the returned firearms belong to PO1 Sagonoy already constitutes circumstantial evidence that MILF men were behind the video and the cold-blooded killing of the SAF commando,” explained Gatchalian.
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Gatchalian said the DOJ should start filing criminal cases against MILF and BIFF members since there is already the BOI Mamasapano Report, which contains the autopsy reports on the SAF 44 as well as the sworn affidavits of the 12 wounded members of the 14th Seaborne Company and the lone survivor from the 55th SAC identified as PO3 Christopher Lalan.
“The families of the slain SAF commandos are asking for justice for their loved ones. The DOJ is the primary agency that can give justice for the 44 fallen heroes by immediately filing criminal cases against the perpetrators from the MILF and BIFF,” concluded Gatchalian. (R. Burgos)
