Marcos on Murderers of ‘SAF 44’: Hunt them, Charge them, Jail them

FIND them, charge them, jail them.

This was the call of Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima following the Senate report concluding that the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers were murdered.

“I fully agree with the wording of the committee report that our troops were murdered by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and other armed groups. That’s why the Department of Justice should hunt them, charge them, and jail them,” Marcos said.

Among the findings by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, was that the MILF and fighters and members of other PAGs (private armed groups) committed murder and robbery.

The committee, joint with the committees on peace, unification and reconciliation; and finance, has submitted on March 18 its investigation report on the January 25 Mamasapano incident where 44 SAF members were killed by the combined forces of MILF, BIFF and PAGs while on a mission to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkipli bin Hir, alyas “Marwan”, and his local cohort, Basit Usman.

Marcos was among the first ones who signed the report as he agrees with the findings of the committees.

“I’m really convinced by and agree with the findings that our troops were massacred and murdered. That’s what I’ve said from the start. And the videos that we have seen showed how our SAF members were senselessly killed. That’s why murder is the right gruesome term,” he said.

He said that justice for the killed policemen should be the highest priority of the government.

“The families of the victims want no less than swift justice. They are not asking for anything else, they are not hoping for other things than to see the culprits behind bars,” Marcos said.