MILF vs. SAF Maguindanao Encounter Death Toll now at 49

[godknwshudasnot]

The Philippines: Stuck between a rock and hard place

I think that's also true when...

Philippines needs America to counter China's territory grabbing ambitions. But they have to follow America's orders to neutralize terrorists like Marwan on Philippine soil AT ALL COSTS NECESSARY in exchange.

[dreamur]

Could it be possible that the SAF were waiting for a chopper extraction that is why they were there in the open field?

[dillydally]

vigilante does not have a room in a decent society whose people still believe in the rule of law. it happened in cebu or in davao because rulers had tolerated or even sponsored it. crime is contagious. the vigilante is as egregious as the person he murdered.

true, you can say that... and I agree sir...
but while we believe in the rule of law, those videos spur hate. it tells us that mamasapano is a no-man's land. before BBL, our government should first teach them a good lesson on our (version of) the rule of law. otherwise, if we are not in the same page, peace with them is illusionary.

[Juan Martinez]

Could it be possible that the SAF were waiting for a chopper extraction that is why they were there in the open field?

the senate investigation has given us insights. the 55th sac, the blocking force, was trapped in a cornfield and under fire from all direction. the senate investigation has provided us the information that the fire came not only from the milf but also from the biff, private armed groups, and armed militias. the senate investigation thru armm governor hataman provided the information that the SAF was caught in a pintakasi, a situation where all armed muslims in the area whether biff, milf, private armed groups, or armed civilian militias, even if they are at times at odds with each other, ganged up a common enemy, in this case, the SAF. The senate investigation also provided us with the information that milf thru mohagher iqbal that they suffered 18 casualties and 14 wounded, but the senate investigation failed to provide us with information on the number of casualty of the biff, private armed groups, or other armed militias. this, we are entitled to know. now, you asked whether the undersieged SAF waited for chopper extraction. the answer is found not in the senate investigation but on the eulogy of pcsupt Taliño. Accdg to pcsupt Taliño, during the firefight, PSINSP Ryan Pabalinas radioed him and asked for the support elements. support elements are anything that could ever helped them-- chopper, artillery, Mechanized, Infantry. let us go back to the senate investigation. the senate investigation has provided us the information that General Napeñas at around 7 am txtd general pangilinan the grid coordinates of 55th sac. we also know from the senate investigation that the commander of the Mechanized Brigade, who was on the ground at that time in contrast with General Pangilinan who was not, recommended three courses of action, one of which was to fire artillery rounds against the enemy, but general pangilinan told him "to hold" it. senate investigation provided us the reason why general pangilinan did not order artillery fire. He told the senate that it was "doctrinal", that he needed to know the location of the enemy and he needed to know the status on the ground whether civilians were still there (then why he did not ask about his concerns the Brigade commander who was on the ground and who recommended shelling the enemy?) we also knew from the senate investigation that they fired white phosphorous at around 5:30 pm or almost 12 hours from the onset of fighting. and we knew too because of this senate investigation thru general napeñas that soon after the firing of that white phosphorous the heavy volumes of fire coming from the enemy almost had stopped. now, from these informations, and the information that Generals Purisima and Napeñas broke the chain of command, who did not make a prior coordination with the ahjag, using our God-given gifts of rational thinking and intelligence, without engaging in speculation but apply only what we know from the senate investigation, who should be held LIABLE here? the people responsible should be brought to the bar of justice so that we, the families of saf44,can have closure and justice be served to those who offered a costly sacrifice in the altar of freedom.

[suvfanatic]

PNoy knew about outcome of Mamasapano operation morning of Jan 25

PNoy knew about outcome of Mamasapano operation morning of Jan 25 | News | GMA News Online

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Tags: Mamasapano clash
Sometime Sunday morning of January 25, President Benigno Aquino III knew about the result of the Mamasapano operation, which left 44 police commandos dead.

A review of Aquino's speech before Philippine National Police-Special Action Force officers two weeks ago shows that the president knew that the PNP-SAF were able to neutralize Malaysian terrorist Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” in the morning of January 25.

"Simula pa noong Linggo, umaga pa lang, sinabihan na ako ng naging resulta nitong kay Marwan. Tapos habang sinisayat namin ang pagbobomba sa Zamboanga, dumarating ang mga report,” Aquino said last January 30.

Aquino also said that while he was in Zamboanga City on that day, he was receiving information on the skirmishes involving the PNP-SAF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The operation conducted last January 25 left 44 members of the PNP-Special Action Force (SAF) dead after a firefight with MILF and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Thursday, February 12, during the Senate's hearing on the Mamasapano clash, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Armed Forces chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang all said they did not inform Aquino right away of the Mamasapano clash, since they did not see any urgency regarding the initial information they received about the incident.

These security officials also did not say who ultimately informed Aquino about the outcome of the Mamasapano encounter.

Resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima also did not give a directly responsive answer when asked if he informed Aquino about the outcome of the Mamasapano operation. The police official said he needs to seek clearance first from the President. — ELR, GMA News
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Tags: Mamasapano clash

[shelu]

I saw the first video where dead SAF where being surveyed (the second video is the one where the na-ngingisay 26 yr old cop got shot), and I saw that one police had one of his lower legged missing but bandaged. Isip ko tinaga but then I saw this GMA video on Marwan's bahay kubo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNGQYQxYpnQ

Na booby trap niya yung ilang points of approach sa bahay niya. And according to the report, na trip ng ilang pulis yung traps kaya this would explain, partially, why body parts where missing from the dead SAF.

Tapos, siyempre you can't leave your fellow pulis behind so dragging the wounded through the crossfire made a quick exit impossible. I mean, kung kakargahin mo na parang sako, tatamaan rin kayong dalawa.

Kung may helicopter gunships at transport like those used nung typhoon yolanda support they might have been rescued while it was still dark. Pnoy and Purisima underestimated the battle zone and overestimated so-called elite SAF. Pulis versus organized Islamic militia. Eh, hindi nga capable yung na trap na SAF mag direct ng artillery fire (but I seriously think AFP could have done a better search and rescue).

i think you got it wrong na hindi capable ang saf mag direct ng artillery fire. saf commandos are well-trained troopers. before you become one, you must have cross-trained with the army special forces in fort magsaysay for a year. they also cross-trained with army scout rangers. basically, these special forces we have, whether saf, sf, LRU or SRT, have almost same training. most often, they know each other as they might be classmates on these specialized trainings, even they came from different branch of service. artillery knowledge is fundamental for these well-trained guys. to sum it all, maraming pagdadaanan bago ka maging trooper, whether in the AFP or in the PNP. taon po ang binibilang.. i would just like to point out how good those guys are. 36 troopers lang ang blocking force against an estimated 400 enemies (news reports), yet the firefight lasted for more than 13 hours. can you imagine that? the only game changer was when they run out of ammos. if they had support for ammos, results would be different. in my own reckoning, they were better than US rangers who had the same mission in mogadishu. we know know what happened in mamasapano and mogadishu. my salute for these brave saf troopers.

[Juan Martinez]

^ I could not say it any better sir. thank you.

[Juan Martinez]

any man's death diminishes me because i am involved in mankind. so never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.- John Donne

[dr. d]

it would appear to me...
there are things still deliberately hidden from the public, which would easily clear up the issues, if they are made known..

[kisshmet]

^There is another target, divulging further details could aid that target to elude the arms of the law of our republic

One thing is for sure the operation had clearance from the highest official of the land

With the recent spate of bombings in mindanao its incumbent for the govt to respond with actionable intelligence that could take down a high value target responsible for these bombings. The govt took the risk & sacrificed some in order to take down the target with limited resources

For evil to triumph it only takes good men to do nothing. The govt did something no matter how difficult the task would be

the end result is the arm of the law finally caught with marwan after eluding it for more than a decade just like with osama bin laden