Friday , 29 March 2024
Some of the main figures in the Mamasapano debacle and their lawyers bow their hands in prayer at the start of a House inquiry into the tragedy that resulted in the death of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) members last Jan. 25. From left are Police Director Getulio Napenas, lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre, lawyer Kristoffer James Purisima and resigned Philippine National Police Director-General Alan Purisima. Deputy Director-General Leonardo Espina, PNP officer in charge, has quoted autopsy reports as saying some of the commandos were wounded but still alive when shot to death at close range by Muslim insurgents. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

Grim autopsy report bared on ‘massacre of 44’

Grim findings on how some of Fallen 44 were killed.

New grim findings on how some of the “Fallen 44” were killed in Mamasapano last January 25 have been uncovered by the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry.

The consolidated medico-legal report of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Crime Laboratory Office showed that nine of the 44 slain commandos were shot in the head; 18 suffered bullets wounds in the head, trunk and extremities; and 17 were shot on their trunks and extremities. The consolidated report was part of an update released by the BOI headed by Police Director Benjamin B. Magalong.

The 44 were autopsied last January 27 and 28 to determine the entry points of their fatal gunshot wounds, said Magalong. All seven police commissioned officers were shot in the head except for Senior Inspector Max Jim Tria who had gunshot wounds on his extremities. Tria was dubbed the “last man standing” in Mamasapano, and was clutching two hand grenades when state troopers found his body a day after the massacre.

Magalong said that based on examination conducted by Senior Supt. Emmanuel L. Aranas, Crime Lab deputy director for operations, three of the fatalities were shot in the mid-portion of the trunk. This indicated that the victims might not have been wearing their bulletproof vests or their vests were stripped by the gunmen before they were shot to death.

He added that Inspector Rennie Tyrus’s head wound showed smudging, indicating he was shot at close range with the muzzle less than 15 centimeters away from the point of entry. Police Officer 2 Joseph Sagonoy—the commando identified as the uniformed man in a video that went viral on the social media—had gunshot wounds in the lower left thigh, and two fatal shots in the head from a caliber 9mm semi-automatic pistol. One slug was embedded in his brain.

Magalong said key personalities were interviewed according to their participation in the operation. As of yesterday, 331 SAF commandos already executed formal affidavits while 15 others were still being interviewed.

The BOI report bolstered speculations that some of the SAF commandos were stripped of their bulletproof vests by gunmen from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) before they were shot while still alive.

An autopsy also showed that Senior Inspector Ryan Pabalinas, the officer who made the last radio call to his superior before being killed, was shot at least 14 times, mostly in the head, neck and body. Another officer, Senior Inspector Gednat Tabdi, the commando who cut off Marwan’s index finger for DNA sampling, was shot in the head once.

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