MILF fighters did not commit any crime during Mamasapano clash, Jaafar insists

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members did not commit any crime during the January 25 Mamasapano clash, the group’s vice chairman said Thursday, following Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s statement that 90 people will be charged in connection with the infamous incident.

“That is the official decision of the MILF. They did not commit a crime,” said Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, referring to the results of its own investigation on the same incident.

The clash that marred a covert police operation to neutralize suspected terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, last January 25 resulted in the deaths of 44 elite policemen and cast a shadow on the peace deal between the government and the MILF. Eighteen MILF fighters and five civilians were also killed.

Jaafar’s statement came after De Lima, citing the results of the Department of Justice’s investigation, said 90 members of the MILF, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and private armed groups were recommended to be criminally charged for the clash.

Jaafar said he still needs to read the DOJ report and hear De Lima’s exact statements before he could further comment on the matter.

“My initial reaction is let me hear first what she said. Allow me first to get the news first-hand… I will have to get it first-hand before I react,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it expects the MILF to cooperate with the government in filing of charges against the involved fighters.

De Lima, meanwhile, appealed to the MILF to cooperate with he completion of the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Prosecution Service joint probe. —Trisha Macas/KBK, GMA News