AFP public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc told GMA News Online on Saturday that releasing the results of the MILF investigation to the public will show the group’s sincerity in the ongoing peace process.
“Kailangan nilang ma-convince ang public sa sinseridad nila,” he said, adding, “Transparency and accountability ang hiling natin, kailangan nilang isapubliko ito.”
Cabunoc said this after MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the results of the MILF probe on the Mamasapano incident are only for his group, and will only be released upon request.
He added that the MILF is already 90 to 95 percent done with its probe into the bloody encounter.
Iqbal also disagreed with the idea of a joint probe between the MILF and the government on the bloodbath.
“I don’t think that would be a good decision. Let it be. Whatever the findings of the Board of Inquiry, Let it stand. In the same way, whatever the findings of the MILF investigative team will put forward, let it stand,” he said.
On January 25, 44 PNP-SAF members were killed in a firefight with the MILF and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The clash occurred despite a peace deal signed by the MILF and the Philippine government in March last year.
The police commanders supposedly entered an MILF-controlled area to arrest Filipino bomb maker Abdulbasit Usman and Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan,” who government authorities said was killed in the operation.
Usman was able to escape from the police raid. — Amanda Fernandez/LBG, GMA News
