AFP, PNP officials display unity amid coup rumors

Security officials tried to display unity on Thursday amid coup rumors and the finger- pointing on who should be blamed for the Mamasapano clash, which claimed the lives of 44 police commandos.

Military and police officials are confident that they would overcome the crisis borne out of the bloody encounter that happened last January 25.

“We are one, we are strong and we will overcome,” Armed Forces chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said during the presentation of the firearms returned by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the government in Camp Aguinaldo.

Philippine National Police officer- in- charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina echoed this saying: “Ever since we were cadets, I and General Catapang have always been together and until now, until maybe after retirement, we will always be together.”

“That bespeaks the unity of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as we surpass the crisis that we underwent,” Espina added.

Both Catapang and Espina are members of the Philippine Military Academy class ’81.

Military and police officials who were present during the presentation of firearms locked arms in an apparent effort to dispel notions that the Mamasapano clash has strained their relationship.

“We just want to reiterate that we are band of brothers, that we will not abandon one another,” Catapang said.

“We are just doing our job. There is nothing personal here,” he added.

Catapang said the military and the police would continue to work together to ensure public safety despite their differences over the Mamasapano incident. When asked if the display of unity was meant to send a message to those who seek to destabilize the government, Catapang said: “Wala naman yun. (There’s no such thing). What is important is we are doing our best efforts to recover the firearms (taken from the fallen police commandos).”

The Special Action Force troopers who figured in the Mamasapano clash were tasked to arrest wanted terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Basit Usman. Marwan was killed in the covert operation while Usman managed to escape.

The death of Marwan, however, came with a huge price tag as 44 SAF troopers were killed in a firefight with the combined forces of the MILF and its breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. The MILF has blamed SAF for the firefight, saying the police commandos had failed to coordinate their actions in the area.