Same massacrers killed nine 84th SAF – Napeñas

Charge the same 90 cutthroats in the First Mamasapano Report for the killing of nine other police commandos. The ex-chief of the PNP Special Action Force demanded such action from authorities instead of leaving the murders unsolved.

Retired SAF director Getulio Napeñas insisted that the attackers of the 84th Special Action Company (SAC) were the same gunmen that massacred all but one of the 36-strong 55th SAC at Mamasapano, Maguindanao, last Jan. 25. Thus, they also should be indicted for the killing of nine and wounding of most of the 29 other commandos of the 84th.

Napeñas scored the conclusion of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima that no one would be indicted for the heinous crimes against the 84th because there supposedly are no witnesses.

“They did not bother to ask us,” Napeñas said of the Special Investigation Team of the NBI and the National Prosecution Service. Two other ranking PNP officers confided the same to The STAR while requesting non-attribution.

Supposedly the investigators did not interview the officers of the 84th who, after taking down international terrorist Marwan in Barangay Pidsandawan, continually were waylaid in exfiltration. The ambushers were from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, their breakaway but blood-related Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and assorted private armies.

De Lima, in announcing last Thursday the findings of the NBI/NPS, said the members of the 84th could not tell for sure who their attackers were; hence, her decision to close the case with no charges filed.

Napeñas said, however, that the probers never talked to him. The two sources claimed that the leaders of the 84th were not consulted either.

“Who else but the victim of a crime against person would be the foremost witness?” one source remarked. “In this case, they should have debriefed the 29 remnants of the 84th.”

Leaders of the 84th hesitated to talk to the press, for fear of sanctions. Eight SAF field officers, two from the 84th, earlier had been charged before the Ombudsman with neglect of duty in connection with the deaths of the SAF-44.

“The 84th had two locals as guide,” Napeñas recounted in an interview on “Sapol” radio show (DWIZ 882-AM) last Saturday. “Did the investigators interview them for the identities of the marauders?”

Napeñas said the guides were familiar with the area, and had led the 84th to the hut of Marwan before daybreak. Booby-trap blasts wounded two of the commandos on the stealthy approach. Awakened, Marwan fired at the raiders, and consequently was shot dead.

On exfiltration the 84th was ambushed several times, starting at 5 a.m. up to late afternoon, Napeñas said. “They had no intention to engage the enemy, because their mission was to bring Marwan’s finger out of there,” for DNA matching with his brother, presently jailed in California for terrorism.

“All that time they could hear the gun battle at adjacent Barangay Tukanalipao,” Napeñas added. The 55th was then being mowed down by the encircling MILFs, BIFFs, and PAGs (private armed groups). “At first the 84th assault team tried to link up with the supporting 55th, but aborted due to the heavy fighting, and searched for other escape routes.”

At one point before noon, the 84th was advised about a ceasefire forged between the MILF and the 55th. It gave them only momentary relief and rest, as snipers resumed fire after an hour. “Imagine such treachery on our law enforcers,” Napeñas moaned. “And now (de Lima) is closing the case with no indictees, except for the very officers who led the successful mission to neutralize Marwan.”

Those details are contained in the separate PNP Board of Inquiry and the House of Representatives, Napeñas stressed. The reports culled from the post-operations reports and affidavits of over a hundred SAF troopers.

“They showed the MILF, BIFF, and PAGs to be one and the same massacrers of the 55th and the 84th,” Napeñas noted. “The (NBI/NPS) investigators should have taken off from those, before hastily concluding that there are no witnesses.”

The same NBI/NPS team had recommended murder and robbery raps against 90 killers of the 35 commandos from the 55th, who also looted their weapons, uniforms, bulletproof vests, communications equipment, and personal belongings like wallets, cellphones, and wedding rings.

The raps were recommended in mid-Apr., but filed in court only late last month. There are five witnesses in that rap, de Lima said without naming them.

She kept the identities of the 90 confidential as well, supposedly to not jeopardize the case. She added, though, that the court has the discretion to divulge the details.

There was a to-do in July when several news outlets got hold of a supposed copy of the NBI/NPS report. Not only 90 but 102 were counted then as the massacrers.

Five of the masterminds were identified. Three are top leaders of the MILF 105th Base Command based in Mamasapano: Ben Tikaw, Makku Tikaw, and Salik Kukuk. Two are BIFF leaders: operations commander Mer Amilil and battalion commander Muslimin Gumanding Amilil. Also named were Mohammad Ali Tambako, Datukan Sato Sabiwang, Muhamidin Abad Sinsuat, and an alias Gapor, while the rest were John Does.

On the day the story saw print, a miffed de Lima said it was false, and ordered the investigation of the supposed leak.

The eight indicted SAF field officers are: Chief Supt. Noli Taliño; Sr. Supts. Richard dela Rosa, Edgar Monsalve, Abraham Abayari, Raymund Train, Michael John Mangahis, Rey Ariño; at Sr. Insp. Recaredo Marasigan.

Train was the head of the 84th, and Marasigan the intelligence officer. Taliño was Napeñas’ deputy, and the rest were members of the tactical command post and the reinforcing 42nd and 45th SACs.

Napeñas, with then-PNP chief Alan Purisima and then-Intelligence Group head Fernando Mendez are facing raps of grave misconduct and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The Act prohibits a public official from inducing another or be induced to break the law.

Purisima faces a separate case of usurpation of authority, in interloping with the SAF operation despite then being under Ombudsman suspension, on investigation for corruption. He has since been dismissed from the service, while Napeñas retired in July.

The Senate and the PNP-BOI had found President Noynoy Aquino liable for having the suspended Purisima supervise the raid in Mamasapano, and organizing the prior briefings.

The Ombudsman cleared P-Noy in July, supposedly for lack of evidence to link him to the botched deployment of commandos.

Napeñas denounced the indictment of his eight officers, saying that they were only following orders from superiors.

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Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., DWIZ, (882-AM).

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