RELATIVES of 44 Special Action Force members, slain in last year鈥檚 Mamasapano massacre, gathered by Burnham Lake on Jan. 15 to float candles in the water ahead of the Jan. 25 memorial of the tragedy. EV ESPIRITU/ INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
BAGUIO CITY鈥擳he country needs to celebrate the heroism of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos killed during a mission to capture or kill a Malaysian terrorist in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25 last year, because their deaths symbolize the country鈥檚 commitment to the war on terror, according to their widows and their former commander.
Forgetting would be a disservice to the 44 SAF troopers who were trapped and killed by Moro militiamen while the rest of their team located and killed suspected serial bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, aka 鈥淢arwan,鈥� said retired SAF commander Getulio Nape帽as Jr., who joined the SAF 44 widows at a memorial in Burnham Park here on Saturday.
The memorial gathered families from as far as Mindanao and was staged ahead of the Jan. 27 reopening of the Senate inquiry into the Mamasapano case.
The outpouring of public support for the SAF 44 had helped the families deal with their loss, Nape帽as said, adding that they hoped it would continue after the first memorial.
Nape帽as said keeping a memorial alive would honor not just the 44 slain commandos but also others before them who died trying to arrest Marwan.
鈥淭he first operation against Marwan was in 2006, and two SAF troopers lost their lives in North Cotabato. And no one remembers,鈥� he said in a speech he gave to the families.
He said Marwan would have been arrested at the time but was able to flee allegedly due to the intervention of a group talking peace with the government.
He said their primary goal is to counter terrorism, and Marwan鈥檚 presence in the country had always 鈥減ained鈥� the SAF.
鈥淲e could not take it sitting down. He was an international terrorist who was in the Philippines and nothing was being done by the security forces [to detain him]. [His presence] did not give justice to the hundreds he killed, and the ones he would have killed in the future,鈥� Nape帽as said.
He said: 鈥淪ome discredited us, saying we [conducted] the Mamasapano operation because of the [bounty put up for Marwan鈥檚 arrest]. Not a single centavo went to us. Until now I do not know if the informant [who led the SAF to Marwan鈥檚 lair] has received the bounty or not.鈥�
鈥淲e never spoke about [the bounty] when we started planning against these terrorists. Money and glory were never part of the discussion,鈥� he said. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
听