Mamasapano survivor killed in Abra fiesta blast

MANILA, Philippines — Three years ago, Police Officer 3 Carlos Baccali Bocaig found himself among the few survivors of the firefight in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that killed 44 of his colleagues in the Special Action Force (SAF).

Yesterday, on the anniversary of the SAF deaths, Bocaig was killed when a grenade exploded during a fireworks display in a town fiesta in Abra.

Bocaig was part of the Abra Provincial Police-Mobile Force Company providing security as people were gathered at the La Paz town plaza to watch the fireworks.

SAF chief Director Noli Taliño confirmed Bocaig was part of Oplan Exodus, an operation to kill Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli Abdhir, alias Marwan, in Mamasapano.

Taliño said Bocaig was one of the 41 SAF men from the 84th Special Action Company (SAC) Seaborne that acted as the assault team which swooped down the house in Barangay Pidsandawan, where Marwan was hiding while 36 commandos from 55th SAC served as blocking force.

Members of the 84th Special Action Company (SAC) Seaborn battalion killed Marwan during the raid.
Taliño was then deputy director of SAF.

After his stint in the elite force, Taliño was assigned as director for human resource and doctrine development at Camp Crame, Quezon City.

As an elite unit of the PNP, SAF commandos are tasked to conduct operations as a Rapid Deployment Force anywhere in the country, specifically in critical situations such as hostage rescue, commando-type unconventional warfare, search and rescue in times of calamities and disasters, and civil disturbance management during national emergency.

After the massacre, most of the survivors were given the chance to choose their place of assignment, a privilege rarely accorded to members of the elite force.