Former GRP Panel Chief Dureza says SAF OPERATION TO GET ‘MARWAN’ DID NOT REQUIRE ‘COORDINATION’

By Manny Piñol

The former chairman of the government panel who signed the agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the handling of wanted criminals hiding in identified MILF enclaves yesterday said “coordination” was not required when government security forces were after “high value targets” like Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan.”

In an article posted in his Facebook page early Tuesday night, former Press Secretary and GPH Peace Panel Chairman Jesus Dureza said “In fairness to the SAF operations (against Marwan), the ceasefire agreement and the implementing guidelines between the GRP & MILF clearly never required prior coordination in operations against high value, priority targets.”

“Truth to tell, I had to go back to my records as I clearly remember that I signed as GRP panel chair in Oct 2001 with my counterpart, then panel ( now MILF) chair Kagi Murad the Manual of Instructions for CCCH (ceasefire) and LMT (monitors) in Malaysia,” Dureza said in his post.

He added: “subsequently, the implementing guidelines and even the recent AFP/PNP operational guidelines clearly excluded operations against high value targets like Marwan ,& Basit Usman.”

“What I cannot understand is why up to now, Malacanang or the PNP higher headquarters have not released this vital information in fairness to our fallen SAF commandos,” Dureza said.

The former GPH Peace Panel head posted images of the documents he signed with Al Haj Murad in Malaysia, one of which included a page with the stipulation: “Except in operations against high priority targets, a list of which shall be provided by the GPH Panel to the MILF Panel, the AHJAG shall inform the GPH and MILF CCCH at least 24 hours prior to the conduct of the AFP/PNP operations in order to allow sufficient time for the evacuation of civilians and to avoid an armed confrontation between the GPH and MILF forces.”

Dureza’s revelation could further add fire to the already raging controversy resulting from the killing of 44 members of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police by a combined group of MILF, BIFF and private armed groups in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25.

The SAF commandos were tasked to arrest Marwan, an international terrorist who carried a $6-M reward offered by the US Government, following a verified information that he was hiding in Mamasapano.

The SAF team which entered the area reported that they killed Marwan but the sound of the gunfire during the operation alerted the MILF and BIFF rebels in the area resulting in a firefight which killed 44 SAF members.

It was the biggest number of fatalities suffered by government security forces in the history of the country.

The MILF, who claimed they suffered 18 dead, said the fighting was a result of the lack of “coordination” by government troops with the MILF.

President Aquino, in a statement issued three days after the canage, also admitted that there was lack of “coordination” in the operation.

The pronouncements by government that indeed there was no coordination with the MILF created confusion prompting some sectors to even criticize the PNP SAF for entering the MILF territory without prior “coordination.”

The MILF has also used the “lack of coordination” defense to justify the action of its men in the killing of the 44 SAF commandos.

It was not known if the Presidential Peace Adviser, who was believed to have briefed the President that there was supposed to be “coordination” before the operation, was even aware that the original agreement signed by Sec. Dureza and Al Haj Murad, now the MILF Chairman, clearly stipulated that “coordination” was not required in the operation against high value and priority targets like Marwan.

Dureza’s revelation could give justice to the fallen SAF commandos but it is also expected to complicate the raging issue which has stoked national outrage.