The deaths of the 44 PNP SAF troopers in a raid in Maguindanao last 26 January 2015 has left an entire nation in grief and mourning as well as a lot of questions unanswered. The apparent mission of the operation was for the SAF troopers to go into Barangay Mamasapano Maguindanao, the lair of the Islamic secessionist groups MILF and BIFF, and kill terrorists Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman who were hiding there. This, the largest number of casualties in a single PNP operation, has brought forth many questions the answers of which are sorely demanded by the familes of the victims and the public in general. At this point the technicalities or the "how" of the operation is not so important as the "why": why were there highly trained troops sent in to the heart of enemy territory without back up or reinforcements and no coordination with other higher officials such as DILG Sec. Mar Roxas and PNP OIC Leonardo Espina, or the Army? Why was the operation entrusted to suspended Chief PNP Alan Purisima? Why were there US personnel involved and present during the operation? Was it the reward money involved? Continue Reading