A congressman from Basilan on Friday denounced the killing of three former Abu Sayyaf bandits who have surrendered in a raid by policemen in Basilan.
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman said the victims fatalities had helped military forces in the area.
“The three military assets are returnees from Abu Sayyaf. They are even helping us convince members of the Abu Sayyaf to surrender and live normal lives as citizens,” said Hataman, former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Hataman said “the killing of the three has jeopardized the government’s effort to attain lasting peace in my province.”
He sought a legislative investigation into the incident to determine the liability of the lawmen involved and to be the basis of a bill that he will be crafted to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“This incident comes at a time when the security situation in Basilan has greatly improved through the efforts of LGUs and security forces in the province. This will surely have an impact in our security campaign,” Hataman said.
Hataman filed House Resolution 210 urging the House Committee on Public Order and Safety to investigate the incident last Aug. 2. He said the inquiry is intended to determine if there was a breakdown in coordination between the police and military agencies.
“If there was no coordination, then we have a serious problem. Hindi pwedeng seek and destroy ang mentality ng civilian law enforcement agencies like PNP at NBI. They should have investigated and coordinated properly. It is a tragic loss that is both unnecessary and preventable.”
“In a way, the three were ambassadors or agents for peace. And they were killed in what appeared as an uncoordinated operation in my province, without the knowledge of the senior military officials in the area” Hataman said.
Last Friday, at 3:30 a.m., a composite team of the Philippine National Police’s 84th Seaborne Special Action Force and the National Bureau of Investigation raided the house of a certain Aljan Mande in Sitio Kasanyangan, Barangay Candiis in Hadji Muhammad Ajul.
The raid resulted in the killing of Aljan Mande, Jamsid Mande and Radjak Ammah, all Abu Sayyaf returnees. They returned to the fold and, before their deaths, were under the Program Against Violent Extremism that Hataman, as ARMM governor, instituted to fight terrorism and extremism.
The three later served as military assets and helped in curbing terrorism in Basilan by providing information on the whereabouts of the Abu Sayyaf Group. The victims even contacted ASG members to convince them to lay down their arms and surrender to the government.