Ang dami palang namatay nung encounter last Sunday.



Death toll in Mamasapano carnage now at 49 - ARMM police | ABS-CBN News



Death toll in Mamasapano carnage now at 49 - ARMM police



MANILA – The death toll in Sunday's clash between policemen and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Force (MILF) is now at 49, a local police official said.

Senior Superintendent Noel Armilla, Philippine National Police officer-in-charge for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said he still has no information how many among the 49 fatalities were policemen and MILF members.

Armilla said at least 11 were wounded.

He could also not confirm whether a civilian was killed in Sunday's bloodshed.

Earlier reports put the death toll among members of the PNP Special Action Force and MILF at 30 and 4, respectively.

The clash between the MILF members and the elite cops occurred as the latter were supposed to arrest Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir alias ''Marwan'' and Basit Usman, a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-making expert, in Tukanalipao village.

The MILF, however, said the bloody clash erupted due to the lack of coordination between the police and the proper governing bodies.

Speaking to dzMM, Iqbal said the police personnel should have first coordinated with the Ceasefire Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) before conducting their operation in the MILF-controlled area.

According to Armilla, the PNP SAF informed the ARMM Police about the operation at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, but he noted that the gun battle erupted at around 3 a.m. that day.

Police have already retrieved 29 of the bodies of the slain policemen.

Bangsamoro Basic Law

Sunday's clash threatens to stall the progress in the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, a product of the peace talks between the government and the MILF.

Senator Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, earlier ordered the temporary suspension of all discussions and hearings related to the passage of the law following the Sunday clash.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, chair of the defense committee at the lower house, has also asked the ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro to suspend deliberations on the proposed law pending the submission of reports on the latest skirmishes in Mindanao.

Top officials from both the government and the MILF said the deadly clashes should not delay proceedings for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

“It is not logical for anybody to delay the process of making the BBL into law because it will be disadvantageous to all parties concerned,” MILF vice chairman for political Affairs Ghadzali Jaafar told reporters.

In a separate press release, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the Philippines’ resolve to push for the creation of a Bangsamoro political entity is further strengthened.

“This incident and other recent acts of violence by other armed groups manifest the diverse security challenges that confound the peace process. But our resolve to see through the process of legislating the Bangsamoro Basic Law and implementing the different Normalization programs, including the security components, is only further strengthened. With better cooperation we will be able to prevent these kinds of incidents,” she said. - with a report from Edwin Sevidal, dzMM