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2 MILF commanders convicted of 35 counts of homicide in 2015 Mamasapano massacre

Philippines | National

2 MILF commanders convicted of 35 counts of homicide in 2015 Mamasapano massacre

By Jeffrey Damicog

Two commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been convicted of 35 counts of homicide for the killings of the members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) in 2015 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Friday, Dec. 20.

In a statement, the DOJ said that convicted by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 in a decision promulgated last Dec. 16 were MILF commanders Abubakar Guiaman alias "Commander Refy" and Mohammad Ali Tambako for 35 counts of homicide.

“Instead of Direct Assault with Murder, the RTC gave a lower sentence convicting Guiaman and Tambako for 35 Counts of Homicide,” it said.

"Each of them were sentenced to eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor as minimum, to fourteen (14) years, eight (8) months and one (1) day of Reclusion Temporal, as maximum for each count,” it also said.

The cases arose from the operation conducted by members of the PNP-SAF on Jan. 25, 2015 in Mamasapano.

The police force was implementing Oplan Exodus that targeted international terrorists Zulkifli Abdhir and Basit Usman.

However, 44 SAF commandos were killed during the operation.

“To my fellow Filipinos we have won," Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla declared in a statement.

"This court victory is the fruit of the DOJ's hard work and resilience in the face of adversity through the years, never backing down against injustice to uphold the rule of law,” Remulla said.

He then commended the DOJ prosecutors for having secured the conviction.

He noted that the cases were handled by Deputy State Prosecutor (DSP) Alexander Suarez, Senior Assistant State Prosecutors (SASPs) Rex Gingoyon, Anna Devanadera, Amanda Felipe, Susan Azarcon, as well as former Assistant State Prosecutor (ASP) and now Cebu City RTC Judge Claire Pagayanan.

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