DOJ: Mamasapano raps resolved this month

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has promised to resolve this month the criminal accusations against 90 commanders and members of Muslim rebel groups responsible for the killing of 44 commandos of the police Special Action Force (SAF), the highest death toll in the elite unit’s history, in Mamasapano last year.

Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas made the promise after consulting the panel that looked into the charges against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and a private armed group.

Caparas also vowed to make public the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) resolution on the complex crime of direct assault with murder involving the killing of 35 commandos of the 55th SAF Company at a cornfield in Mamasapano’s Brgy. Tukanalipao.

He appealed for understanding on the DOJ failure to resolve the charges for more than a year, saying the panel chaired by Asst. State Prosecutor Alexander Suarez needed to carefully study the evidence to ensure an airtight case.

“The evidence is voluminous and, when we proceed with whatever action we decide later on, has to be supported very well,” he explained.

Of the 90 respondents, only four submitted counter-affidavits and denied the charges: alleged MILF field commander Pendatun Utek Makakua, who claimed he is a farmer; Mustapha Tatak, a barangay chairman in Sapakan, Mamasapano; and civilians Lakiman Dawaling and Khalim Keda, who were accused of being MILF field commanders.

They were accused of acting “in conspiracy with one another to attack, employ force, seriously intimidate or resist the 35 SAF commandos, who were uniformed police officers and thus persons in authority.”

The fact-finding team of prosecutors and NBI agents based the report on accounts of eyewitnesses, including one alias Marathon who identified the MILF and BIFF commanders.