Aguirre reassures justice for Mamasapano victims

FILE: DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II (Photo by Albert Calvelo/Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II reiterated the agency’s commitment to serve justice to the families of the victims of the January 2015 Mamasapano clash that killed more than 60 persons, including 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) which marks its third year on Thursday.

Aguirre made tha assurance amid the DOJ’s pending request to the Supreme Court (SC) for the transfer of trial of the criminal case over the death of policemen in the said encounter.

These cases remain pending at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 15 in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

“While mindful of the security concerns involved in the trial of the case, we will pursue the quest for justice with dogged determination and perseverance,” Aguirre said in a statement.

“While we await the resolution by the Supreme Court of our request for transfer of venue to Metro Manila, you have our solemn reassurance that wherever the trial maybe, your prosecutors will comply with their duties and responsibilities zealously,” he added.

The cases were filed after a DOJ panel of prosecutors issued a resolution dated March 18, 2016 which found probable cause to indict 88 respondents for 35 counts of direct assault with murder.

In a case status update submitted to Aguirre, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rosannie Elepano-Balauag, said then-Prosecutor General Victor Sepulveda wrote a letter to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on January 12, 2017 requesting the high court to transfer the trial to Metro Manila from the Shariff Aguak Maguindanao RTC Branch 15.

Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr. submitted a letter to Sereno, through Court Administrator Midas Marquez, December 7, 2017, reiterating the DOJ’s request for the transfer of venue.

“To date, the Supreme Court has not resolved the prosecution’s request for the transfer of venue of the case from Cotabato City to Metro Manila,” stated the DOJ case status report dated January 22, 2018.

Arrest warrants were issued by the trial court against the accused on January 25, 2017, but the trial of the case had not started due to pending motions for judicial determination of probable cause by some of the accused.

One accused, Samsudin Upam, urged the court to quash his arrest warrant.

The 88 accused — identified by a star witness known only by the code name Marathon and 11 other individuals—belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and private armed groups.

Only the deaths of 35 members of the 55th SAF-Special Action Company who were killed by the rebels in a clash at a cornfield in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano were covered by the case.

The case is for the complex crime of direct assault with murder against 88 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups (PAGs) in connection to the Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident which led to the deaths of 44 members of the SAF along with international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, a.k.a. Marwan.

On Jan. 25, 2015, the slain police commandos were deployed to Mamasapano to capture wanted terrorists Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman.

Marwan, a Malaysian bomb maker with a bounty from the US government, was killed during the operations.

The operation resulted in the death of Marwan but also sparked a fierce encounter that claimed the lives of SAF members.