Duterte to NBI: Speed up probe of Sulu ‘misencounter’

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to speed up its investigation into the alleged “misencounter” in Jolo, Sulu involving policemen and soldiers, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the President was deeply saddened by the incident that left four soldiers dead.

Killed were Maj. Marvin Indammog, 39; Capt. Irwin Managuelod, 33; Sgt. Jaime Velasco, 38; and Cpl. Abdal Asula, 33. The four were tailing four terrorist suicide bombers when the shooting happened.

The President, according to Roque, expressed hope that the police and military would avoid a repeat of the incident under his watch.

“Hi nd idawda pat na g pa pat ay an, nagi eng ku w en tro sa bin iya,s ana it on aanghu ling mis encounters aka ni yang term ino(H es aid those with the same ideology should not kill each other or get involved in an encounter. He said it should be the last misencounter under his term),” he said.

Roque said Duterte also wanted to talk to the nine policemen involved in the shooting.

The Philippine Army claimed that the soldiers were rubbed out and dismissed

the police report on the incident as “fabricated, inaccurate and misleading.”

Col. Ramon Zagala, Philippine Army spokesman, said the spot report was disseminated to members of the media, an hour after the incident transpired at Barangay Walled City, Jolo, Sulu.

“If you claim to have killed suspected armed men, why did you leave? Isn’t that already a score for you? So that means, they knew they were military,” Zagala said.

The military said no encounter transpired since the soldiers “did not fire a single shot.”

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has maintained its position that the incident was a “misencounter,” but senior military officials have disputed this as well, calling it “murder.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson warned that the terrorist groups might exploit the alleged misencounter by fanning the animosity between the military and the police.

The senator on Wednesday appealed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PNP leaderships not to allow lawless groups to create a wedge between them.

“While I can easily relate to Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay and understand how he feels about the Army officers slain in Sulu, emotions running high at this point is the last thing they need,” Lacson said.

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan also called on military and police ground commanders “to rein in their men to preserve peace and avert escalation of tension between the armed personnel.”

“We should be going after the common enemy — terrorists, drug lords, armed groups, and in this time of the pandemic — not against each other,” he said.

Pangilinan said the Senate should investigate the shooting of four Army intelligence officers “to shed light on the incident and give justice to the victims.”