MANILA -- Four years on, the cry for justice for the slain 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers in what was dubbed as the Mamasapano massacre remains elusive as ever to date.
The slain troopers were part of a 475-man SAF unit that successfully raided the secret hideout of Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, a Malaysian terrorist and bomb maker, in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25, 2015.
Retired police Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, who was then the deputy SAF commander at that time, said the highly top-secret military operation named “Operation Exodus” was carefully planned before it was launched targeting the high-value target Marwan, dead or alive,
The SAF commander was Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas.
Only a handful knew about the top-secret military operation “Oplan Exodus.”
Among them were then President Benigno Aquino III and suspended Police Director General Alan Purisima.
In fact, even then PNP officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina was kept in the dark about the military operation.
In an interview, Taliño said he was at the tactical command post monitoring closely the on-going operation “Oplan Exodus” wherein Marwan was killed during the fighting.
The operation was highly successful as Marwan was killed.
Before withdrawing from the area, the SAF cut a finger of Marwan as evidence they had killed the Malaysian terrorist, who was also wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States.
However, during the withdrawal something cropped up when SAF troopers were ambushed by terrorists hiding in the tough Mamasapano terrain.
The highly-trained SAF troopers engaged their ambushers in a daylong fierce gun battle.
Though they were cornered and encircled, the SAF troopers made a heroic stance, holding their ground and returned fire bullet-for-bullet until the 44 SAF men were mortally wounded.
It was during this fighting that the SAF troopers showed their fighting skills, outnumbered but never outfought.
Many of the terrorists were also killed and dragged by their comrades after the fighting.
But what was distressing is that the military was not informed beforehand about “Operation Exodus” until at the last minute when fighting erupted between the SAF and the terrorists who ambushed the 475-man SAF troopers.
During the hearing conducted by Congress on the Mamasapano massacre, Napeñas claimed that they informed the military “on time on target” whatever that means.
The military, however, said “time on target” means their artillery is already standing by ready to fire at a moment’s notice. But in this case, there was none.
Had there been prior coordination, the outcome of “Oplan Exodus” would have been a victory on the government’s war on terror the country would have been proud of.
But a blunder cost the lives of 44 SAF troopers which until now, are crying for justice in their graves.
As the saying goes: “Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.” (PNA)
