NEARLY two and a half months after the clash of the Special Action Force (SAF) and the combined force of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) that led to the death of 60 people in a gruesome bloodbath in Mamasapano, Magunidanao, one big question is in the minds of most Filipinos: was the incident really a ‘massacre’ or was it just a ‘mere encounter?’
To add to the drama, the leaders of the Senate committees, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are also debating about it.
CHR chairperson Loreta Ann Rosales found the response of Senator Grace Poe, regarding the senators’ final report on the incident, were too rash that Poe “easily jumped to conclusions” in stating that it was indeed a “massacre” instead of it being a “mere encounter.”
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, on the other hand, “insisted” that what happened in Mamasapano “was a massacre and not simply a misencounter,” according to ABS-CBN News.
According to Secretary Leila De Lima, the evidence that the National Bureau of Investigation-National Prosecution Service (NBI-NPS) has gathered so far showed that it was just “an encounter and not a massacre.” They are also looking if the 44 SAF members were killed for a “justifiable act of self-defence,” which was claimed by the MILF, or if it was “an act of unlawful violence.”
This debate has been showing up in the news for over a week and there is still a big hole wherein we can’t give justice to the families, friends, and loved ones as to how a simple operation to target two of the world’s most wanted terrorists lead to a gruesome death of 44 of the SAF troopers.
This doesn’t just concern the families of the SAF troops, but also the ones of the MILF. All who were killed were humans and right now, debating whether the incident was a massacre or a misencounter is not really the most important thing right now. Yes, it may clear up the issue a bit but it will only spark more disagreement within the government instead of carefully investigating the situations that happened last January 25.
If only the bodies can talk, they might be able to give their families a peace of heart, but what they do know is that they were all brutally killed. But they can’t talk anymore, they just can’t.
ON THE LOOKOUT 