QUICK VISIT. Special Assistant to the President Secretary Anton Lagdameo speaks to reporters after a meeting with military and police officials in Camp Siongco, home of the Army's 6th Infantry Division in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, on Thursday (June 22, 2023). Lagdameo, together with Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., assured Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao leaders of the government's support for peace efforts in the region. (Photo from Mark Tayco/DXMS Radio Cotabato)
CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao Norte – The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct separate investigations on the June 18 police operation that left seven Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) men dead in Maguindanao del Sur.
In a visit to this camp Thursday, Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Special Assistant to the President Secretary Anton Lagdameo Jr. shared that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has been informed of the request of MILF leaders for the conduct of a separate, independent, and impartial investigation of the operation.
“It is necessary to have a fair investigation and the government is considering the recommendation to bring back third-party monitoring teams,” Galvez told reporters after receiving a briefing from regional police and Army officials on the region’s security situation.
To clear gray areas, Galvez has suggested to the military and police leadership to come up with official reports and forward them to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim.
Officials of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) have suggested bringing back the International Monitoring Team (IMT) composed of foreign peacekeepers to ensure the ceasefire agreement is implemented.
The Malaysian-led international peace monitoring group composed of about 60 peacekeepers had departed from the southern Philippines after the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Police Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, BARMM police director, said the operation was legitimate and only went haywire when one of the gunmen opened fire toward law enforcers during a search warrant operation in Barangay Madidis, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur on June 18.
During that time, operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the military were to serve search warrants against Nasser Husain and his brother Norjihad when a shootout erupted.
Both siblings died in the operation along with five others.
The Husain brothers were earlier charged with violation of Republic Act 10591 or illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Mohagher Iqbal, former MILF chief peace negotiator, however, insisted that the fatalities were legitimate MILF members and that the operation against them by the police was a clear violation of the ceasefire mechanism.
The MILF stressed that state forces need to coordinate with them before conducting law enforcement operations in MILF communities to avoid unnecessary firefights, as stipulated in the GPH-MILF 1997 general agreement on the cessation of hostilities.
Galvez, citing a report from the law enforcers, said the subject of the Datu Paglas operation was verified to be affiliated with the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
He quickly added that a third-party investigation is necessary “to remove all doubts.” (PNA)
