THE military on Sunday said the accidental killing of six policemen by Army troops in Sta. Rita, Samar last week was not an ambush.
“Technically, all of the elements of an ambush were not present, but that’s just the point of view of the Army,” Lt. Gen. Rafael Valencia, a member of the board of inquiry, told GMA News.
“From what we gathered from our side, that’s what we saw. Of course, when we sit down with the PNP, they might have documents or photos,” he said, referring to the Philippine National Police.
In an ambush, Valencia said, the targets are supposed to be moving.
“At that time, the targets were not moving. It was actually the Army troops that were moving,” he said.
The military officer also said they are checking for possible lapses in observing protocol and coordination between the soldiers and policemen.
in Sta. Rita, Samar on Monday, June 25, 2018 (File photo). Photo courtesy of Cosette Vallejera
He said the BOI report on the incident should be out by Wednesday.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, a member of the House committee on national defense, on Sunday wrote the deaths off to “the fog of war.”
“Sadly, we still have hostilities in the countryside. And where there’s warfare, there’s always the peril of confusion on the ground,” he said.
“Without prejudging the outcome of the inquiry into the incident, we are prepared to accept it as a case of friendly fire due to misidentification,” he said.
“Our hearts go out to the bereaved families of the officers lost, and our thoughts and prayers are with them,” he added.
To reduce the chances of friendly fire, Pimentel called for an top-level “interoperability conference” between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police.
“We have to enable our soldiers and police officers to effectively and safely operate with each other on the ground, especially in strife-torn provinces where we may have several forces constantly on the move,” he said.
The AFP and PNP must beef up their capability to train, exercise and conduct missions in conjunction with each other, he added.
“We have to avoid future cases of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” he said.
In the Sta. Rita incident, 33 officers belonging to the PNP’s 805th Company, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 8 were attacked by mistake by 17 soldiers from the Philippine Army’s Charlie Company, 87th Infantry Battalion.
Six police officers died and nine others were wounded in the encounter.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte took full responsibility for the incident to put an end to the blame game.
Roque also said the military and police would have better coordination to avoid the similar incidents.
