THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippine expressed support for the Duterte administration’s plan to reopen the investigation into the Mamasapano massacre that killed 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF).
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa and Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel said it was clear that issues remained unresolved as to who were responsible for the debacle.
Arguelles, a former bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, said the public, especially the families of the victims, deserve to know the truth.
“There were lies and inconsistencies in the whole tragic affair. Even the role of the USA needs to be clarrified,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he may order a new probe to be carried out into the bloody January 2015 incident that claimed over 60 lives, including 44 police commandos.
Eighteen rebels and five civilians were also killed in the encounter between government forces and armed rebel groups, including members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Duterte said he wanted to know who got the $5-million reward for terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir, also known as Manwar, who was killed by the SAF troopers.
The CBCP previously said that peace in the south can only be attained if justice to the SAF commandos will be served.
For Gutierrez, a reinvestigation is necessary “for the truth to come out.”
Senator Grace Poe, who conducted a Senate investigation into the incident, opposed the plan to reopen the case.
In an interview over radio dzMM, Poe said the President may easily get the information he wants from intelligence units without reopening the investigation.
If the President really likes to know what happened to the reward money and the finger of Marwan, Poe said, he can easily know the answers through his own intelligence.
“No need for a report because being the President, he has direct access to the intelligence of the national police and military,” he said.
Poe also added that police officials have already revealed that the bounty on Marwan went to a police asset.
“We did not ask for the identity of this person because they were protecting their sources,” Poe said.
Marwan was killed in the January 2015 operation, but at the expense of 44 SAF troopers who clashed with private armed groups, including fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with which the government was in peace negotiations.
Poe’s committee ruled in its draft report that President Benigno Aquino III was ultimately responsible for the Mamasapano bloodbath.