DFA: SAF plan and execution ‘100% Filipino’

MANILA, Philippines (Updated) – The United States was not involved in the “plan and execution” of the January 25 anti-terrorist operation in Maguindanao that turned bloody, a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) told senators on Monday, February 23,

“In our own discussion with the United Sates authorities, we have ascertained from our own discussions that the plan and the execution of the operation were 100% Filipino,” said DFA Undersecretary for Policy Evan Garcia.

Garcia also categorically denied any involvement of US troops in combat operations in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao. “The only constitutionally restricted activity in our cooperation with the US under our existing agreements is that they may not – and have not in the case of Mamasapano either – engage in combat operations,” Garcia said.

A local group claimed that an American was among those who died in the combat area. The US embassy in Manila denied the report, saying that they only assisted in medical evacuation.

‘CAAP should explain white plane’

It remains unclear, however, if the US provided assistance on intelligence that helped the police Special Action Force (SAF) in finding top Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or “Marwan,” one of the terrorists most wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

It also remains unclear if the US deployed drones to monitor the operations on the ground. Residents of Mamasapano reported hearing drones flying the night before the operation. Mamasapano Mayor Datu Benzar Ampatuan also told senators about a white plane circling the area on January 25.

Senator Nancy Binay asked the committee on public order to invite officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to shed light on the sighting of the white plane in Mamasapano.

While Garcia was not aware of the operational details of the SAF operations, Garcia said “intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance” are within the ambit of the cooperation between the US and the Philippines.

Garcia detailed in the Senate hearing the level of cooperation between the US and the Philippines. This cooperation, he said, “significantly reduced” the size of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines.

PNP in particular has “benefitted,” he said, from “activities on training and intelligence exchange.”

On the operational details of the SAF operation in Mamasapano, Garcia however deferred to the security agencies.

“On the alleged American participation in Mamasapano, we respectfully defer to our colleagues for operational details,” Garcia said. – Rappler.com