Allaga: ‘Basilan survivors saw mutilation of dead comrades’
Killers texted news to slain trooper’s wife
MANILA, Philippines — Marines who were wounded during an encounter with suspected Moro rebels in Basilan province last week witnessed how the attackers “hacked” off body parts of their slain comrades, Marine Corps Commandant Major General Nelson Allaga said Saturday.
Allaga led full military honors at the Philippine Marine headquarters for the 14 soldiers who died in the ambush and daylong battle in Tipo-Tipo town last Tuesday. The troops were on a mission to check on reported sightings of kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
Ten of the 14 were beheaded.
Nine other soldiers were injured in the encounter, during which the outnumbered Marines stood their ground despite being hampered by dud mortar ammunition.
Not content with beheading and mutilating the dead Marines, the attackers also pillaged their belongings — cellular phones, money and jewelry, said Marine spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan.
And using the one of the fallen soldier’s cellular phone, the attackers sent this text message to the trooper’s wife: “Pinugutan na namin ng ulo ang asawa mo [We’ve beheaded your husband].”
“The wounded saw how the others were hacked,” Allaga told reporters in Fort Bonifacio on Sunday.
He said the ears, hands and legs of the slain troopers were cut off. Some of the body parts were recovered, but others were not.
Allaga said the Marines’ attackers likely regarded their heads and mutilated body parts as “trophies.”
He said cutting off the soldiers’ body parts while they were dead or dying was tantamount to “sadism.”
“When you go after the head, you go after the center of gravity,” he said.
The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has owned up to engaging the Marine troops but not to the beheadings. The rebels said the government troopers encroached on their territory in violation of a ceasefire agreement.
The military initially said that Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits, supported by local armed groups, were behind the attack on the Marines.
An investigation is underway to determine the true identity of the attackers.
Navy spokesman Commander Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the attackers used so-called low-velocity ammunition, which caused parts of the slain troopers’ faces to shatter.
After the dead soldiers’ remains were flown in to Manila from Zamboanga City Saturday afternoon, these had to be “rearranged” overnight at a funeral parlor.
Sonia Panaga, mother of Corporal Russel Panaga, one of the dead, initially did not recognize her son. Crying beside his coffin, he kept saying: “This is not my son.”
Panaga said her son’s cheeks looked bloated and his eyes different. But officials later assured her it was her son, based on dental records.
The remains of the 14 Marines will remain at the Bonifacio Naval Station gymnasium until Monday after which, they will be flown back to their respective hometowns.
The 14 are: Private First Class Reuben Doronio Jr. from Cebu City; Private First Class Freddie Palma Jr. from Pavia, Iloilo; Private Emilio Lachica Jr. from Zamboanga City; Staff Sergeant Bernard Abes from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; Technical Sergeant Noel Bautista from Tagum City; Sergeant Gerardo Licup from Sto. Domingo, Albay; Sergeant Cayetano Simbangon from San Josefa, Agusan del Sur; Private First Class Elizar Semeniano from Tacloban City; Private First Class Arjorin Alezar from Puerto Princesa City; Private First Class Jhonard Allanza from Mandung Bulan, Aklan; Private First Class Willfredo Lamban from Sultan Kudarat; Sergeant Rey Callueng from Tuguegarao City; Corporal Russel Panaga from Libon, Albay; and Private First Class Emmanuel Beup from Brooks Point, Palawan.
Their families will each receive P100,000 from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, P15,000 burial assistance, special financial assistance depending on their rank, a house and lot, scholarships for their dependents, a posthumous promotion to the next highest rank, a still undetermined posthumous combat award, and other benefits and refunds.
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