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COTABATO CITY, June 24, 2023 (SDN) — Malacañang’s order for an impartial investigation on the police-military operation in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur, was welcomed in the Bangsamoro region.
The operation on a Sunday, June 18, mounted by a combined elements of Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) netted seven dead legitimate Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members.
Killed in the joint police-military raid, as named by the MILF were Nasser Yousef M. Husain, 34; Norjihad M. Husain, 29; Nasrullah Mamay Singkala, 38; Ivan Pumpugay, 18; Izrael Laguiab, 41; Morsid Madidis, 50; and Mama Karim, 50.
Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO BAR) regional commander Brigadier General Allan Nobleza said the law enforcers were serving search warrants on the brothers Husain, reportedly for past criminal activities.
Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) on June 22 when he visited the 6 Infantry Division (6ID) Headquarters at Awang Airport, Cotabato City, along with Special Assistant to the President Secretary Anton Lagdameo, the subject of the operation, cited a report made by the law enforcers that said the operation’s subject belonged to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
But the MILF Central Committtee (CC) in Resolution No. 001, Series of 2023, asserted the seven killed were legitimate members of the MILF.
On Sunday, June 24, MILF Chief Negotiator Mohagher M. Iqbal and Bangsamoro Parliament Majority Floor Leader Mary Ann Arnado today, June 24, welcomed Malacanang’s order on an impartial investigation into the Philippine National Police (PNP) operation in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur.
At the same time, Iqbal, also chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, mentioned the importance of the return of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) led by third-party facilitator Malaysia.
Arnado, meanwhile, appealed for the return of the IMT for its independence as a third-party mechanism in the Mindanao peace process.
Related: Sen. Padilla Resolution Orders Senate Committee to Hold Inquiry on PNP Raid that Killed 7 MILF Members in Datu Paglas
“It is an affirmative action by the President. He should be thanked for it. But a truly independent, non-partisan investigation body is the essence of the MILF CC Resolution. I hope the IMT will be returned soon. This is part of peace agreement between GPH (Government of the Philippines) and MILF,” he said.
Arnado, a stalwart of Mindanao’s civil society movement, took note of the positive action of Malacañang on the Datu Paglas incident as she called for an “independent fact-finding” investigation body.