COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 23 June) – Malacanang has ordered an impartial investigation into the police operation in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Norte that left seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members dead, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chair of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on Thursday said.
Galvez, who visited the 6th Infantry Division headquarters along with Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Lagdameo Jr., said his office received a resolution from the MILF central committee asking President Marcos to order an independent and impartial probe of the Datu Paglas operation.
“A fair investigation is necessary and the participation of third party is important to come up with reasonable findings,” Galvez said in the vernacular.
He said he has recommended to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police to come up with an official report and submit it to Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) “so our law enforcers can air their side.”
Earlier, BARMM lawmakers have pushed for the return of the third party monitoring team to ensure the ceasefire mechanism is implemented to the letter by both sides.
But Galvez said the Department of Foreign Affairs has a say on the matter.
The Police Regional Office-BARMM and the 6th Infantry Division said what happened on June 18 was a legitimate police operation against wanted persons Nasser Husain and his brother Norjihad, who both died in the operation.
Stressing the fatalities were legitimate MILF members, the group pointed out that there was no prior coordination with them whenever state forces conducted law enforcement operations in MILF communities as stipulated in the GPH-MILF 1997 general agreement on the cessation of hostilities.
Mohaqher Iqbal, former MILF chief peace negotiator, said the mechanism was not followed in the Paglas operation.
Galvez, citing a report from the law enforcers, said the subjects of the Paglas operation were verified and confirmed to be affiliated with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
But he added the OPAPRU is open to a third party investigation to clear all gray areas.
Lagdameo said the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation will come into the picture to start an independent probe.
Bangsamoro Member of Parliament Baileng Mantawil has called for a legislative inquiry in aid of legislation after the families of the fatalities declared that what happened was an injustice. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)
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