By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The head of the Philippine police's Special Action Force was sacked Tuesday following Sunday's bloody encounter in the southern province of Maguindanao that left 44 policemen dead.
The "administrative relief of Police Chief Supt. Getulio Napenas" was declared by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas during a press conference late afternoon in Cotabato City.
Earlier Tuesday, Roxas - together with top security officials - flew to Cotabato City, Maguindanao, to honor the "fallen heroes".
There, he was briefed by Napenas at the Headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry (Kampilan) Division, and he and other officials offered a one-minute prayer to the slain officers.
"Pending the outcome of the investigation into the Maguindanao clash, he [Napenas] has been recalled to Manila," Roxas later said. "He was given the chance to recover his people but today [Tuesday] he was recalled."
Roxas added that a total of 392 police special forces had participated in the operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao to capture Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir - alias "Marwan" - and Basit Usman, a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-making expert.
"A total of 44 SAF men were killed while 12 others were wounded in the clash with the Moro rebels," Roxas said, adding that the remaining 336 participants were alive and had been accounted for.
He confirmed that the government had formed a board of inquiry that will investigate any possible operational lapses that led to the encounter.
According to Roxas, the inquiry will look into the culpability and liability of officers or men who led the SAF operation as well as the external liability of the attackers.
Noting that the operation was not coordinated with the command group of the National Police, Roxas said all would be revealed in the board of inquiry.
Napenas sacking drew mixed reactions from police officers in Zamboanga City - a majority Christian city at the foot of the Muslim south - who declined to be identified for their own protection.
Some said that it "demoralized the police SAF organization" while others said "it could cause low morale."
Mohagher Iqbal - the MILF's chief negotiator in peace talks with the government - earlier said that the police had failed to coordinate their operations with the ceasefire committee.
"They entered our area and attacked us. What are we going to do?" he asked. "What happened was self-defense."
Authorities are verifying reports that Marwan was killed in the clash as government forces reportedly took pictures of the Malaysian bomb-maker's corpse but failed to retrieve the body.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has described him is an engineer trained in the United States, who is believed to have started living in the southern Philippines in August 2003.
It had recently offered $5 million bounty for his capture.
Philippines lawmaker Terry Ridon has blamed senior government figures for Sunday's violence, naming Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II as responsible.
“Right now, the government is whitewashing its prime involvement in the clash to save the necks of big shots like Ochoa, Roxas and, of course, the president,” he said.
In March, the MILF signed a peace deal with the government to end a decades-long insurgency and establish a new authority to replace the much-criticized Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
On Tuesday, two senior politicians withdrew their support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law – legislation currently passing through Congress that will pave the way for the new authority.
The House of Representatives has also agreed to suspend deliberations on the bill pending the results of the board of inquiry set up to investigate the incident.
