Fallen Not Forgotten (2018) Movie Script
I saw it right there.
Go and meet it that way.
- Right there.
- Go!
It's a pretty amazing scene
out here on Pennsylvania Avenue,
in front of the White House.
This crowd gathered just
after President Barack Obama announced
that a small US team
killed Osama Bin Laden
and captured his body.
Obama says that,
"Today, justice was done."
Despite losing their leader,
Al Qaeda's global influence
has remained vast.
Other Islamist terror groups from
around the world
continue to take their cue from Al Qaeda.
One these groups
is called Jemaah Islamiyah,
known as JI.
Since 1994, JI has had covert terror cells
operating across Southeast Asia.
Until 2003, the responsibility
for controlling many of JI's terror cells
used to fall upon this man,
Nasir Abbas.
I'm not an ordinary member in JI.
Um, in 2001, I led,
uh, I mean, JI members
in Sabah, Malaysia,
East Kalimantan, Indonesia,
Mid-Sul... Central Sulawesi, Indonesia,
Northern Sulawesi,
and Southern Philippines,
including Mindanao
and Tawi Tawi archipelago.
So all Jemaah Islamiyah in that area
is under my command.
All the cross-bordering
between the three countries
is... I mean, under my control.
I knew everything about
how to train people.
Yeah, so, this is what I can understand
when authorities consider that
I'm a dangerous person in Southeast Asia.
JI has left an ugly legacy
across much of Southeast Asia.
Their most brutal attack
was the Bali bombing of 2004,
killing over 200,
and leaving another 200 badly injured.
Violence has been JI's weapon
against Western allied governments,
in the hope of moving ever nearer
to the formation of the Islamic Caliphate.
The Caliphate cannot be achieved,
unless it has several places
or several locations of Islamic State.
Then they can join together to unite,
to be a union of Islamic State,
and that they can call as the Caliphate.
The plan was huge,
To overthrow the governments
of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
And in the Philippines,
the mission was to reclaim Mindanao.
Six men of JI have been
ordered to go to the Philippines.
And these six men, including me,
to train the Bangsamoro People.
The location is North Cotabato.
North Cotabato,
in the mountain of Cararao.
And I set up the camp.
I call the camp...
I name the camp as Hudeibah Camp.
And in the camp, we train
people from the Bangsamoro,
especially from the MILF,
and also from Indonesia, Malaysia,
and also Singapore.
People knew me.
My name at that time is Suleiman.
Yeah, so...
...maybe some Filipinos
still remember me as the name Suleiman.
And then, in 1998,
JI received direct communication
from Al Qaeda.
We received the statement
of Osama Bin Laden targeting the Western.
The call is, or the statement is,
to kill the civilians of Western,
anywhere and everywhere.
And Hambali is the one.
Hambali, one of JI members.
Now he is in Guantanamo.
So Hambali, at that time,
he is the one who's spreading
the statement of Osama Bin Laden.
A paper in Arabic language, Arabic writing
are being sent to the leaders of JI.
And I had got one.
And Hambali asked me to read
the statement of Osama Bin Laden,
uh, in front of JI members.
But when I read the statement,
I say, "It is not good for me.
And it is also not good for JI."
Yeah, so...
But Hambali is very enthusiastic
and very interested
to implement the statement
of Osama Bin Laden.
So some of JI members
also agree with Hambali.
One man
who was profoundly influenced
by Osama Bin Laden's call to violence,
was this man, Zulkifli Abdhir,
known as Marwan.
There is a Malaysian,
Marwan, staying in Davao.
I will not let Marwan visit my camp,
visit the camp of JI,
in Hudeibah...
Because I do believe that
Marwan is not part of JI.
I don't care if Marwan
has a relation with JI in Malaysia.
But I really do not know
who is Marwan at that time.
Marwan was
a hardline militant Islamist.
It was the Bali bomb that propelled him
to the upper reaches
of the FBI's Most Wanted List.
Marwan is part of KMM in Malaysia.
And KMM, at first,
they don't do any violence in Malaysia.
But later, when there's
a statement of Osama Bin Laden...
So, JI and KMM agree to implement
the statement of Osama Bin Laden.
Marwan was also
the mastermind behind
several horrific terror attacks
in the Philippines,
including the bombing
of a rural transit bus
in Maramag, Southern Philippines,
that killed 11 students
and left 43 badly injured in 2014.
And more recently, Marwan was plotting
an attack on Pope Francis' motorcade,
during the Pope's visit to Manila in 2015.
He knew how to make a bomb,
he knew how to kill the others,
and he has an intention
to do the operation again and again
as long as he's still alive.
So, I can understand that
the authorities are looking for him
and trying to arrest him.
For years,
the Philippine authorities
had relentlessly tried to track down
and take out Marwan.
He remained elusive,
and constantly on the run.
But then, in late 2014,
it appeared as though
the cat and mouse game
could finally be over.
Intelligence pin-points
Marwan's current location.
A plan was put together,
and Operation Exodus was born.
The planning for Oplan Exodus
started December 23,
two days before Christmas.
There was an instruction
from our director that
we have to continue planning and planning
until we find a solution on
how to really take down Marwan.
The Philippine Special
Action Force, known as the SAF,
is an elite unit
of the Philippine National Police.
We know we can get
to the target without being detected.
The big question is,
how to get out all alive, safe.
So there were rehearsals
and refresher training,
until the troops were ready.
That's when we went there.
Executing
a complex mission would normally require
coordination with the military
called the Armed Forces
of the Philippines, known as the AFP.
But on this occasion,
the military were not informed.
In fact, no other government agency
knew of Operation Exodus.
It was only the SAF troopers,
Director of the PNP Intelligence Group,
their immediate two superiors,
and President Aquino
that knew of the top secret mission
to arrest and neutralize Marwan.
The plan was to inform
the Armed Forces of the Philippines
once the SAF assault force
is already in the target area.
The peace process
was considered in the planning.
That's why the approval
for the "go" signal for the mission
was up to the President.
SAF Director reiterated to us
that the President was really
pressing us to get Marwan.
At 6:00 p.m.,
on the evening of January 24th, 2015,
a SAF ground commander briefs his troopers
on this extraordinary mission.
During that night,
the feeling is kinda eerie for me.
Part of me doesn't want
to push through with the mission,
but part of me said
that I have to do this.
1ED, 1OP in the 106 BIAF...
The SAF's biggest obstacle
is to avoid possible retaliation
from Islamist guerrilla rebels
who patrol large sections of Mindanao.
Our ground commander asked,
"Is everyone willing to join?"
The troops said,
"This is what we've been waiting for.
This is a rare opportunity."
We recited a short prayer
and hugged each other.
In the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Almighty and Heavenly Father,
thank you for this wonderful evening
that you have given to us.
Lord, we are going to
undergo another operation.
Give us strength and wisdom
that we may be able to
perform this operation well.
Keep us safe that
we may be able to return to our families.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
In the name of the Father,
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Aboard two vehicles
are SAF's Seaborne Company
heading toward the vehicle drop off point.
Traveling towards
the target took, more or less, two hours.
Meanwhile,
several kilometers away,
another 300 SAF troopers are dispatched
at various positions
within a large vicinity
to act as support to the Seaborne.
To reach their target,
where Marwan is suspected to be hiding,
the Seaborne brace for a trek
of over 4.4 kilometers
through dense vegetation,
and across multiple rivers.
As lead scout...
...I went first to observe whether it's safe
to organize the team and proceed.
When I saw it was safe,
I gave the sign for the troops
to move forward.
Then our ground commander told us...
...Virgo, lead, go!
The field was dense,
the corn plants were so tall
and so close together,
it was difficult for us to pass through.
We maneuvered along the edge of the field.
We kept moving forward until
we reached the first river.
When conducting
covert operations in unknown terrains,
the SAF often use a guide
to assist in their navigation.
Our guide could not remember
his landmarks.
At the same time,
our GPS malfunctioned.
I don't know if it malfunctioned,
but, at that time, it was really cloudy.
And the tall cornfields,
I think, obstructed the GPS signal.
So it's not really
giving us an accurate direction,
which way to take.
Sergeant Jack came to me.
His GPS was working.
"Follow me," he said.
We passed through open terrain.
It was a tilled field.
Your combat shoes
sink into the plowed area
and you lose your balance.
I had a hard time.
My legs were cramping up.
We reached the main river
around 2:30. I looked at the clock.
So, tactically, it's still logical
to pursue with the mission.
As a swimmer scout...
...my comrade,
Sergeant Jack Bauer, and I swam.
My comrade secured us
and looked out for our enemies.
The water rose
and the current got stronger.
The distance across is approximately
40 meters wide.
When we reached the other side,
we climbed up the riverbank.
We tied the rope
and radioed the others,
that they could now proceed to cross.
One by one,
the Seaborne cross the river.
But then, their assault commander
suddenly runs into a problem.
We were holding at
this improvised flotation device
together with the two guides.
Ten meters from the other end,
they let go of the...
the improvised flotation device
and then they just grab on the rope.
So the flotation device
I was holding, flipped.
He sank into the water,
I saw he was exhausted.
One of the guys threw me
a rope so I can pull myself up.
I was trying to pull them up
one by one,
because the embankment of the river
was high and slippery.
I even told one guy
to do it himself,
because I was really, really tired.
I did not realize that I was
pulling up my commander!
When our commanding officer
checked the time, we were already late.
He asked Captain Tabdi,
"How many men have crossed?"
"Only 13, sir."
With just 13 men
able to cross the river,
and with daylight fast approaching,
the mission to reach Marwan's hut
is already in jeopardy.
I was thinking twice
because there was only 13 of us.
Next thing he said, "Fix your equipments.
We will assault the hut."
It was a good thing that the commander
was pushing to finish the mission.
It was useless to abort the mission,
because if you withdraw,
it would be sunrise
and you would be spotted by the enemies.
You wouldn't have accomplished
the mission, and yet you will still die.
So, let's just do this.
Now running behind schedule,
the dawn light means the SAF troopers
are now at a much higher risk of being
spotted by militant armed groups.
Exhausted from over six hours
hiking through dense vegetation,
the 13 SAF troopers
finally near the small nipa hut,
where Marwan is believed to be hiding.
There's a person
inside the hut that lighted a lamp.
Then he flashed a flashlight.
I was startled
because it almost lit up my face.
As we moved to an L type position,
I did not take my eyes
off the moving shadow inside.
I saw someone,
I was about to shoot him,
but suddenly, there was an explosion.
I felt something heavy fall on me.
I dropped the magazine I was carrying.
Then I moved back.
I could hear someone groaning,
"Allahu Akbar."
But I knew he was already in pain.
"Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar."
I answered...
...it's your time!
The firing continued.
But after a few minutes...
Ceasefire!
I also heard
guys from the left flank
telling me that there's two guys
running away from the hut.
I thought Marwan,
again, eluded arrest.
When the SAF team went inside,
they were able to verify that
there was a dead man lying there,
and when they further verified,
it is indeed Marwan.
Sir, positive!
That's him!
In just a few seconds,
they shouted, "Bingo!"
"Bingo!" he said.
It means we got the target!
The SAF was
about to conduct a retinal scan of Marwan
and take body fluids,
but due to heavy fire,
they decided to cut off the finger.
Senior Inspector Gednat Tabdi,
who's the team leader who went inside,
decided just to cut the finger
for DNA sampling.
They took some pictures,
and gathered all the evidence.
Once we have gathered
what we need to gather,
we need to extricate ASAP.
The intense firepower blows their cover,
leaving the SAF
very little time to extricate.
After we extricated,
they still continued firing at us.
But I strictly gave instructions
not to fire back.
Because they would know
which direction they are
going to pursue us.
They fired at us,
but we did not fire back
because we knew
they only wanted to locate us.
We had an accounting,
a personnel accounting at that time.
So when everyone is all accounted,
we immediately go back
to crossing the river.
They were shouting
"Allahu Akbar!"
They kept firing.
We could hear them coming closer to us.
I was confident because
my comrades were there.
There was a good number of us,
and I was the only one wounded.
A few kilometers away,
another SAF company, called the 55th,
are also on the move.
The 55th are on their way
to provide support
to the returning Seaborne Company.
At the bridge,
we heard people shouting.
When we looked through
our night vision goggles,
we saw armed men
pointing their guns at us.
We did not fire on them
because there was an order
not to fire unless fired upon.
But we could not move forward.
We were stuck there until daylight.
By now,
daylight has severely compromised
the SAF's visibility to enemy groups.
But they continue forward with the hope
of joining forces with the 55th.
We were extracting, to move
to a safer place, and move to the 55th.
About 200, 300 meters...
away from the river...
We suddenly heard
simultaneous sounds of gunfire
in from area of the 55th.
Having heard
the 55th come under severe fire,
the Seaborne are forced to take cover.
So, we hid ourselves pretty well because
we can see some, you know,
communities in the area.
Armed rebels belonging to
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,
known as the MILF,
and the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters
known as the BIFF,
are only meters in front.
The enemies were walking by us,
the MILF, the BIFF,
they were all together.
They're not a separate group.
You could see their uniforms.
And you can see father and son,
the father egging his son to hurry up
so they can have their war trophies,
like their firearms and their,
you know, their clothing.
You can see also from where
we're staying in that vegetated area,
the women and children are leaving.
A few kilometers away,
and the 55th wonder why
the Seaborne has not yet appeared.
We thought
that the Seaborne Company
was already there...
...to link immediately with us,
then withdraw from there.
In the few minutes
that did not happen,
we realized we were surrounded.
Now surrounded by rebels,
the 55th are showered with gunfire.
Our tactical command post called us,
telling us we should reinforce the 55th
because they had so many casualties.
Sir, Mike Echo
is presently at waypoint 16.
We are hearing shots.
Who are engaged?
I was puzzled,
"Why are we the one being instructed
to reinforce the 55th,"
when, in fact, the main body of the SAF,
around 300, were just around
700 meters away from them.
Recon team, recon team, come to me.
Without any questions asked,
we just followed orders.
Let's assess the situation
and try to figure out a passage
to get to the 55th.
- Go.
- Sir.
Go.
All of a sudden,
our lead scout, Sergeant Jack,
ran back to us and said,
"We have many enemies in front."
I was flat on my belly,
and he saw us.
Our distance was seven to ten meters.
But we cannot shoot a child.
He fired at me.
Brr-oop!
My pants got hit.
Knowing that the
55th have come under extreme firepower,
the only way out now is to penetrate
the rebel encampment ahead of them.
So I instructed the sniper team to
pre position themselves to give fire cover
for the maneuvering teams
as we go for a bounding overwatch.
We did the double line formation.
At the left, Team 1 was shooting
while Team 2 was moving forward.
Once Team 2 moves forward,
they will fire,
and then Team 1 will move forward.
More or less, there were 70 of them.
Some fell,
some scampered away
when we assaulted them.
We tried our best to reach the area of
the 55th company so we could help them.
The Seaborne edge
ever closer to what remains of the 55th.
One of the troopers fires a coded signal
to let the 55th know they are close.
We signaled through gunfire
to let the other team know we're here.
Mortar!
Pull back! Pull back!
We were answered by mortar bombs
that exploded right in front of me.
There's massive fire everywhere.
And there's successive mortar fire
coming from all directions.
So instead of reinforcing the 55th,
we have to maneuver to save our own lives.
We retreated
since we were under mortar fire.
We thought it was the army.
We called the command post
and said, "Don't mortar us."
The command post answered
that they had not released any mortar.
Our morale sank lower
because it was the enemy bombing us.
But then,
there is a moment of hope.
Finally, government authorities
have become aware of the mission
happening in Mindanao.
And over the phone,
make a desperate plea with MILF leaders
to agree to a ceasefire.
We get a call, again,
from the tactical command post
that there will be a ceasefire.
The CCCH or the Coordinating Committee
on the Cessation of Hostilities
will be intervening.
They said that the MILF
was going to withdraw.
The firing slowly stopped.
What place is this?
In police headquarters.
At the headquarters of the police
We felt happy and relieved,
and we relaxed a bit
They said the Army was coming to fetch us,
and we believed them.
You aim it right, aim it!
- You go there.
- Opps, don't go yet.
Here they are.
What's taking so long to fire?
The ceasefire
did not help us at all.
In fact, it made things worse.
We observed the ceasefire,
but our enemies did not.
It was a chance for them
to regroup and attack us.
But after an hour,
all hell breaks loose.
You take cover!
I doubt they will fire on you!
The gun battle leaves
the 55th c ompany decimated.
Except for one survivor.
Fellow troopers were wiped out.
I left looking for the others.
Where are all of you?
Until I saw PO1 Bilog.
We were fighting side by side.
I don't remember how we got separated.
That's when I decided
to jump into the river.
We reached an open area.
then we have to move by...
by twos to give fire cover
to the other team.
In the middle of that
you really have to run,
or else you get hit by sniper fire.
So we moved by twos going to
the cornfield near the river embankment.
The growing number of rebels
is overwhelming,
and the Seaborne are forced
to take cover in a cornfield.
We have to crawl
for them not to, uh, see us.
That's the time we get separated.
And that's the time also
that large rebel groups
are really surrounding us.
They really surrounded us.
There was
extreme gunfire in front of us.
I could feel we were all going much slower
because our water had run out,
we were hungry and tired
from carrying our heavy packs.
Their snipers went on,
their crew-served weapons kept going,
they continued mortaring us.
I was wondering where
they got all their ammunition.
And every time
there's a machine gun firing at us,
we can feel the cornfields,
like there's a lawnmower on top of you.
Every wave of gunfire
is like we're just waiting
for our deathbed.
I shouted and said,
"Let's stay here.
It's better to die from bullets
than to die of exhaustion"
I felt I could collapse in 30 minutes,
and the enemies could kill me
by beating me up.
That's why I said,
"These animals have been
chasing us all morning.
"Let's just wait for them here.
"Once they're close,
that's when we fire back.
That way, we don't waste our bullets."
Allahu Akbar!
We were having a hard time,
because it was almost 12 noon.
Almost all of us were weak,
thirsty and dehydrated.
I saw three of my men
drinking IV fluid.
So it gave me a...
you know, small, uh, what you call this,
an inch of energy from that IV fluid.
One of our comrades crept toward
a sugarcane plant.
He took some
and he divided it among all of us.
I saw ten of our guys,
you know, munching on a sugar cane.
So, I lie down with one of our guys.
He talked to me about his growing kids.
And I don't want to talk about that
in that kind of situation.
So I gave him the assurance
that we will all make it out alive,
and we just have to continue fighting.
I have to talk to Tabdi
and tell him that we just
have to wait until night time
before we move again and make
our last stand or hold the ground.
I borrowed the cellphone of my comrade,
and texted my family, "Goodbye."
I told them, "This is it, it's all over.
I won't come home anymore."
I thanked them
for sending me to school, for raising me.
Lying flat on the cornfield,
I called my brother.
I said, "Bro, pray for me.
We are being surrounded."
One of those who got hit, shouted,
"I love you very much, my baby,
even if I haven't seen you yet."
His wife recently gave birth.
He said, "Here's my cellphone,
please contact my wife for me."
Take positions by the coconut tree.
One by one, my comrades fell.
One by one, they were shot.
I'm hit! Get down!
Get down, get down!
The gunner beside me
sat and held the chest
of the person beside me.
Get down, get down!
I shouted at him, "Get down!
They will fire again."
Get down!
He got down.
When he let go,
Kodiamat was already dead.
Buhawi, throw me the gun!
For seven months,
we trained for this operation
against Marwan.
I never went home to my family.
That's why, that morning,
when I called them,
I really really wanted to tell them...
...that I was going to be on an incredibly...
...dangerous mission.
But we are not...
allowed to tell them.
But if I told them maybe
for the last time,
they could say, "I love you."
It's very hard for me when...
when each one of them
is already saying goodbye
and we still have, you know,
uh, a long way to go.
So I told them that, uh,
don't think that way
because we have to fight on.
And because the injured comrades
and the other comrades here
are relying on us.
The wounded were shouting,
What is this? Is there no CASEVAC?
Is there no one coming to help us?
The number of deaths
rapidly kept increasing
from 12:30 to four o'clock.
There was even more wounded
because of the continuous firing.
Wake up, Tabdi!
Sir, sir. Wake up Sir.
Sir, Tabdi is gone!
Tabs! Tabs, wake up!
Sir, when will we get reinforcements?
Sir!
I need a cellphone!
Sir, presently at GC,
18671-03891.
Sir, we have
many dead and wounded!
We need artillery support!
See where the Artillery will land.
I was... I was losing hope at that time.
I called tactical command post.
"Sir, if you don't give us
any artillery support,
we will die here."
5:30, uh, the first white phosphorous
was delivered
around 100 meters away from us.
White phosphorous is
a chemical that spontaneously ignites
when exposed to air,
sending out thick smoke,
accompanied by an acrid smell.
It is used to mark the target
in preparation of the delivery
of high explosive rounds.
It fell exactly where
we thought the enemy snipers were.
Once the first
white phosphorous was delivered,
the gunfire, you know, subsided.
Till the last phosphorous was fired,
there's no gunfire at all.
Sir, any instruction?
Account for
all the dead and wounded!
Secure the perimeter!
Copy, sir.
You can smell
the, uh, the smell of blood everywhere.
I was trying to look beside me,
who is Captain Tabdi,
who was shot in the head.
And on my left
is late Senior Police Officer Acob
who's also hit in the head.
I don't know yet, at that time, how many
were killed or how many were wounded.
But I can still hear their...
their moans and groans.
Our ground officer ordered,
"Let's not leave them.
Even if they're dead,
let's not leave them."
We all answered, "Yes, sir."
I was ready to die there.
We're not going to leave without them.
One of the juniors approached me,
I was shaking.
He was hugging me,
telling me we can do it, we will live.
Once we secured the perimeter
and some of the able guys
were able to do all the accounting,
who's wounded,
who's injured.
So all in all, we get 15 wounded...
and eight killed in action.
The darkness is starting to set in,
and it is such a peaceful night.
Like you can see bright stars
just lying there, staring in the sky.
As if it didn't witness
a hell in Mamasapano.
But, um, you can smell,
you can see your dead comrades
beside you, and the wounded.
Until such time that
the reinforcement was, uh,
about to arrive,
tactical command post told me that
the ground commander
will be going inside
to help us retrieve the bodies.
And help the wounded.
And what's so sad about it was,
the supposed guys to reinforce us,
to help us carry our dead comrades
and wounded are not enough.
So they have to drag the bodies.
Because of lack of equipment.
Careful!
Help. Help.
American air support
goes in to assist the wounded.
It is not known how much US involvement
was incurred in Operation Exodus.
After...
After I arrived at
the vehicle drop off point,
I see, uh...
around several SAF troopers in the area.
I was really mad at them.
Why didn't you reinforce us?
What did you do?
Why did you stay in the main road?
The feeling that
you left us inside there to die,
that's the kind of feeling that I felt.
And one of the officers hugged me.
And after he hugged me,
I break down and cry.
Some of the people
were hugging us on the highway.
That's when I knelt down and just sobbed.
They hugged me.
I cried as I told them
Lieutenant Acob is dead,
Sergeant Inocencio is dead.
They cried, too.
Where are the others?
Here, we found one here!
For the one
and only survivor of the 55th company,
the return to base is especially painful.
I'm not happy
because I lost all my friends.
Especially when I went back to Zamboanga,
all the beds were empty.
I could hear each one's
signature words and moves.
But there was no one there,
all the beds were empty.
Some weeks after the mission,
the FBI released a statement
to say DNA tests
taken from the severed finger
confirmed the suspect as Marwan.
A DNA sample from his finger
matched that of Marwan's brother
detained in a US facility.
After so many years on the run,
Marwan could finally be struck off
the FBI's most wanted list.
But in the Philippines,
the news of Marwan's
successful neutralization
is muted by the outrage
at how Operation Exodus
was handled by the authorities.
The overriding question is
why the beleaguered SAF
failed to receive
any back up from the military,
despite the SAF's desperate pleas
as rebels pounded them relentlessly.
Military General, General Catapang
had just arrived in Zamboanga, Mindanao
when he first heard
the news of a gunfight
involving the SAF.
When we arrived in Zamboanga,
I was informed by General Guerrero,
the West Mindanao Command,
that there was
a firefight going on in Mamasapano.
But at that time we were so blinded
because we were not part of the planning.
And in fact, "General Guerrero,
what... what are you saying about?"
Because nobody knew
what was happening.
General Alan Purisima
is a former Director General
of the Philippine National police.
He co-planned Operation Exodus
and reassured
his commander-in-chief President Aquino
that everything was under control.
I think the President
was already receiving text messages
from Purisima.
But they were
informing the President
that everything is just normal.
That there was an ongoing firefight
and that the AFP
was already providing the reinforcement,
and so forth, and so on.
So we were just relaxing.
But the situation on the ground
was far from being in control.
There was an immediate attempt to stop...
to stop the fighting.
But, as I mentioned,
if you are already in
a "pintakasi" situation,
just to say stop fighting
is not going to do it.
President Aquino was
in Zamboanga at that time
with some of his main officers.
But as I understand it,
even they could not make sense of it, uh,
for a while.
One of the few police generals
that did know about Operation Exodus
was this man, General Napeas.
From past 8:00 in the morning
all the way up to ten, up to one o'clock,
I made a lot of requests
through text messages
to General Espina, General Purisima,
General Guerrero,
General Pangilinan, Colonel Del Rosario,
requesting for the artillery support,
because our troops, the 55th SAF
particularly, were surrounded.
And it is only through artillery support
that they will be able to extricate.
But saving
the peace process was considered
and so the AFP could
not fire on the MILF rebels.
You said, "The order is only to extricate,
but do not engage the MILF,
because we do not want to endanger
the peace process."
Yes, Your Honor, that's my statement.
So you sacrificed the 44?
No, Your Honor, because, uh,
by that time the CCH
or Cessation of Hostilities
were already inside the area.
Yes, but by that time
the MILF was still shooting at the 44.
Most of them
were still alive, right?
- Yes, but...
- So at that time, you had two missions.
The two were conflicting.
Save the peace process
or save the 44.
It's like you ordered them
to go boxing
but with hands tied behind their backs.
Because you told them
not to engage the MILF.
How can they get out the 44
and the rest who were there
if they cannot engage the MILF?
As the casualties were mounting,
Napeas was begging
for support from the military.
From my begging,
General Guerrero answered,
"I will talk to General Pangilinan."
I gave him immediately the coordinates
provided by Superintendent Train
taken from the GPS that they were using.
Napeas passed map coordinates
locating the troubled SAF troopers,
but there was a problem.
The military did not...
was doubting
the coordinates being passed
by the SAF elements.
Simply because these
were taken from Google map.
And I could not, uh,
actually read out
the location from a Google map.
Perhaps there was a way that
the Philippine National Police
could do that,
but in so far as the AFP elements
are concerned,
we were trained or, uh,
we were trained to use
the United States military tactical maps.
Contrary to AFP assertions,
the PNP-SAF was using almost
real time military type satellite maps,
and the Global Positioning System
or GPS to determine their exact location.
The 45th company
tried to reinforce the 55th.
But without proper artillery support,
they could not break through to reinforce
their surrounded fellow SAF troopers.
So a second option was
to send in military soldiers,
but there was another problem.
Our soldiers were there
and then we were telling
the SAF people who were not engaged,
that we have to go and engage them.
Unfortunately,
if you force yourself there,
you'll get casualties.
By 2:30 p.m., the situation
on the ground had gone from bad to worse.
It was upon the orders
of General Rustico Guerrero,
Commander of the Western Mindanao Command,
that General Edmundo Pangilinan
fired the first round
of white phosphorous at 5:30 p.m.
upon the desperate pleas
of the SAF commander.
It was the judgement call
of the commander
of the 6th Infantry Division.
Judgement call
of the 6th Infantry Division,
General Pangilinan,
even if the criteria was not met,
but it was too late already in the,
in the evening,
or too late in the afternoon,
that he was forced to make
a decision to fire a shot.
But, again, that shot was not,
uh, an explosive shot.
It was a shot as a marking round,
if only to scare people away.
Or if only to scare the rebels away
from the Philippine
National Police elements.
Pangilinan gives the order
to fire a round of white phosphorous
into an area occupied by
the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
The rebels retreat.
After that,
all the attackers of the 84th SAF
who surrounded them,
they all scampered away,
and left the place, and there was silence.
The President wanted to make sure that
all will be accounted for.
So when the last element
of the main body,
the one who were able to get Marwan,
were already recovered,
that was the time the President, uh,
went back to Malacaang to sleep.
Once President Aquino was back
in the presidential palace of Malacaang
on the evening of January 26th,
44 SAF troopers lay dead in Mamasapano,
with countless injured and a number
of militants killed in the conflict.
Despite the successful neutralization
of Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist,
it was also one of the darkest days
in modern Philippine history.
Has Garry not yet arrived?
I don't know.
I can't say it was worth it, you know?
Yeah, I can't say it was worth it.
If you go to an operation
and probably, you know,
you accomplish your mission,
but...
one of your men gets killed,
I still consider it as a failed operation.
That's the way I see it personally,
a personal point of view.
Even if I, you know, uh...
let us say, capture a camp,
killed many of our enemies,
but if one of my men gets killed,
I always consider it as a failure.
Why was there
no apparent prior coordination
between the Philippine National Police
and the military armed forces,
known as the AFP?
Coordination means,
uh, you need to lay down your plans,
so that the Armed Forces...
the Armed Forces would
be able to know its role
in your particular operation,
how they can support you.
Doing so, you have to,
you know, spell out everything.
And probably it will take many days before
a particular operation will be launched.
According to sources,
President Aquino did inquire
into how the military were going
to be involved in the operation,
but Napeas advised against it.
When he mentioned about
the coordination with the military,
I politely answered,
"With all due respect, sir,
the military in Central Mindanao
is compromised."
That during operations and planning,
the high value targets
gets information
about impending operations.
That's why, my recommendation,
coordination with the military
in Central Mindanao or the 6th ID,
should be time-on-target.
However, there is some dispute
over what "time-on-target" actually means.
"Time-on-target" is a concept
being used by
the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
particularly by the Air Force.
It just means that, uh...
It just indicates the time
by which ammunition or a weapon...
uh, ammunition or a bomb
is supposed to be dropped on target.
So I think, it's not a...
it's not even a coordination.
So I think it's just information that
we will give you
when we are already there in the target.
So there was no coordination, there was no
planning involved.
While it was
Napeas' recommendation
to co-ordinate only by time on target,
it was his superior, General Purisima,
who finally approved the decision.
But General Purisima
should not have been involved at all.
He had been suspended
from duty two months earlier,
for alleged corruption.
So why was a suspended police officer
overseeing Operation Exodus
in full view of the President?
It was General Purisima,
according to General Napeas,
who committed to coordinate
with General Catapang of the AFP
Since the 1980's,
it is widely acknowledged
that General Purisima and President Aquino
have had a long-standing
personal friendship.
The officer-in-charge
should be providing the orders.
But in this particular case,
it was a suspended officer
who has the full support
and trust of the President.
If you see someone...
uh, closely associated with the President,
and then the President condones that,
then who am I to, you know,
who am I not to follow orders?
It was the President calling the shots.
And I...
I have that in here and in here.
That it's not General Purisima
calling the shots in the operations
against Marwan, it is the President.
The commander-in-chief
is the commander-in-chief,
and he can call the shots,
he can bypass,
he can break the chain of command.
But it's going to be
his sole responsibility.
As we say, the buck stops
at the table of the President
or the commander-in-chief.
You know, I think that the intention
of the President was really good.
I think his intention
to be able to capture a terrorist
is right.
He, he really needed to do that.
But then,
he should have ensured, number one,
the safety also of the men that,
that would have done the operation.
And in his mind, they were safe.
Because, as you know, in one of the
conversations, the President was saying,
"If you are... If you, uh..."
"If you have enough men,
and, in fact, you have
more men than them,
why are you retreating?"
This was his question to Napeas, I think.
"If they are truly outnumbered
by our police,
why is our police the ones
that are retreating?"
So, obviously, the President was not given
the exact picture of what was happening.
There are many, many examples,
not only in the Philippines,
but in other conflicts
where a top commander, a president even,
tries to micromanage
what's happening on the ground
without knowing exactly what's going on,
with tragic consequences.
This is another example of that.
But what I do know
the President repeatedly said,
his order to the SAF force, commander,
is that there should be
coordination with the AFP.
Would that be sufficient? Yes.
Because the AFP on the ground
is so conscious
of its protocols with the MILF.
But these were not followed.
So I think the President himself...
didn't fully understand also
why this had happened.
When, for him,
his instructions were quite clear.
For the President,
he may not be legally liable,
but he is politically,
and he was politically liable for it.
That's why, as commander-in-chief,
everything that happens in the country
has a direct impact on you
and how your policies are.
But this we can clearly see
that the President was aware of it.
He knew about it.
And yet, he did not follow
the right protocols,
which led to the demise of 44 men.
So when I say, what is the responsibility
of the President?
It is not just I who say
that he's responsible for it,
he said so himself.
That he is responsible for what happened.
We did the operations
against Marwan, again,
not for money, not for glory.
We just do it...
for the sake of safety
and for a better place for us to live.
Second, as I have said earlier, honor.
Because I cannot take it
that we have an international terrorist
in the country.
And the police, and the military not being
able to do something to neutralize him.
We didn't go there for the bounty.
We went there to do our job,
to fulfill our duty.
We were able to neutralize
the number one terrorist
in the country, but, uh...
And in the region.
But the loss could have been avoided.
And that is where, I think, uh...
the President, President Aquino himself,
as he said,
he will bring this to his grave.
The manner by which he handled himself
was, uh...
unprecedented and unpresidential.
I was trying to...
recall what happened, what went wrong.
At that time, there were
many thoughts lingering in my mind,
whether I should have aborted it or not,
or whether, if we had pushed through
with the mission or not,
would it have made a difference?
"Would it save the lives of 44 souls
if I had aborted it?
And I said no.
Because those 44 souls
have served their purpose.
They served a greater purpose.
There is a saying that goes,
"Our destiny is engraved in the stars"
And even if we try to rewrite history,
it's already in place.
We should honor them
for what they are, heroes,
in the true sense of the word.
Heroes by ancient definition were,
any man or woman, young or old, you know,
who help build for the next generation.
And this is what the 44 did, in effect.
By doing their duty
to the best of their ability,
sacrificing their lives,
their honor, their families,
they all helped build a better nation
for the next generation of Filipinos.
And for that, we should be thankful
and we should be proud.
These images are
of the returning coffins to Manila
belonging to the fallen SAF troopers.
Sadly, the President was unable
to be present at the event.
He was busy at the inauguration
of a new car factory
just outside of Manila.
We must remember
that the uniformed services
are a different sector
from the rest of society.
The Armed Services
are the only sector of society
whose social contract includes
giving their life in defense of the state.
No other citizen has to do that.
No other citizen has that social contract.
Only soldiers and policemen do.
And that's why we have to recognize that
and see how honorable that is.
And how heroic that is.
And I think, Filipinos,
for the most part do.
Unfortunately,
that sentiment was not reflected
in the reactions of the government
after the tragedy.
They gave up their life, you know?
They gave up their life
to save more people.
The most appropriate term to call them is,
they're heroes.
How I accepted the situation,
that I'm the only one who survived...
It's a miracle, that's it.
For me, it was only a miracle.
Of course, I did what I had to do.
I applied everything
I learned from training
until I left the area.
But for me, most of all,
it was a miracle.
It's God's will.
It's God's will.
Trials are
Here
Yet we should accept them
Even though it's difficult
To accept them
Destiny gave them
To us
The key is to stand up
And continue when we fall
Sun comes out after the rain
Shining on a brand new day
Because tomorrow is full of hope
Just don't forget to call on Him
If there are bitter tears
And terrible pain
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him
Because our God continues
To guide us everyday
Even sacrificed His life
For us
Never lose hope
He is our only God
He will never leave you alone
Because tomorrow
Is full of hope
Just don't forget
To call on Him
If there are bitter tears
And terrible pain
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him
Go and meet it that way.
- Right there.
- Go!
It's a pretty amazing scene
out here on Pennsylvania Avenue,
in front of the White House.
This crowd gathered just
after President Barack Obama announced
that a small US team
killed Osama Bin Laden
and captured his body.
Obama says that,
"Today, justice was done."
Despite losing their leader,
Al Qaeda's global influence
has remained vast.
Other Islamist terror groups from
around the world
continue to take their cue from Al Qaeda.
One these groups
is called Jemaah Islamiyah,
known as JI.
Since 1994, JI has had covert terror cells
operating across Southeast Asia.
Until 2003, the responsibility
for controlling many of JI's terror cells
used to fall upon this man,
Nasir Abbas.
I'm not an ordinary member in JI.
Um, in 2001, I led,
uh, I mean, JI members
in Sabah, Malaysia,
East Kalimantan, Indonesia,
Mid-Sul... Central Sulawesi, Indonesia,
Northern Sulawesi,
and Southern Philippines,
including Mindanao
and Tawi Tawi archipelago.
So all Jemaah Islamiyah in that area
is under my command.
All the cross-bordering
between the three countries
is... I mean, under my control.
I knew everything about
how to train people.
Yeah, so, this is what I can understand
when authorities consider that
I'm a dangerous person in Southeast Asia.
JI has left an ugly legacy
across much of Southeast Asia.
Their most brutal attack
was the Bali bombing of 2004,
killing over 200,
and leaving another 200 badly injured.
Violence has been JI's weapon
against Western allied governments,
in the hope of moving ever nearer
to the formation of the Islamic Caliphate.
The Caliphate cannot be achieved,
unless it has several places
or several locations of Islamic State.
Then they can join together to unite,
to be a union of Islamic State,
and that they can call as the Caliphate.
The plan was huge,
To overthrow the governments
of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
And in the Philippines,
the mission was to reclaim Mindanao.
Six men of JI have been
ordered to go to the Philippines.
And these six men, including me,
to train the Bangsamoro People.
The location is North Cotabato.
North Cotabato,
in the mountain of Cararao.
And I set up the camp.
I call the camp...
I name the camp as Hudeibah Camp.
And in the camp, we train
people from the Bangsamoro,
especially from the MILF,
and also from Indonesia, Malaysia,
and also Singapore.
People knew me.
My name at that time is Suleiman.
Yeah, so...
...maybe some Filipinos
still remember me as the name Suleiman.
And then, in 1998,
JI received direct communication
from Al Qaeda.
We received the statement
of Osama Bin Laden targeting the Western.
The call is, or the statement is,
to kill the civilians of Western,
anywhere and everywhere.
And Hambali is the one.
Hambali, one of JI members.
Now he is in Guantanamo.
So Hambali, at that time,
he is the one who's spreading
the statement of Osama Bin Laden.
A paper in Arabic language, Arabic writing
are being sent to the leaders of JI.
And I had got one.
And Hambali asked me to read
the statement of Osama Bin Laden,
uh, in front of JI members.
But when I read the statement,
I say, "It is not good for me.
And it is also not good for JI."
Yeah, so...
But Hambali is very enthusiastic
and very interested
to implement the statement
of Osama Bin Laden.
So some of JI members
also agree with Hambali.
One man
who was profoundly influenced
by Osama Bin Laden's call to violence,
was this man, Zulkifli Abdhir,
known as Marwan.
There is a Malaysian,
Marwan, staying in Davao.
I will not let Marwan visit my camp,
visit the camp of JI,
in Hudeibah...
Because I do believe that
Marwan is not part of JI.
I don't care if Marwan
has a relation with JI in Malaysia.
But I really do not know
who is Marwan at that time.
Marwan was
a hardline militant Islamist.
It was the Bali bomb that propelled him
to the upper reaches
of the FBI's Most Wanted List.
Marwan is part of KMM in Malaysia.
And KMM, at first,
they don't do any violence in Malaysia.
But later, when there's
a statement of Osama Bin Laden...
So, JI and KMM agree to implement
the statement of Osama Bin Laden.
Marwan was also
the mastermind behind
several horrific terror attacks
in the Philippines,
including the bombing
of a rural transit bus
in Maramag, Southern Philippines,
that killed 11 students
and left 43 badly injured in 2014.
And more recently, Marwan was plotting
an attack on Pope Francis' motorcade,
during the Pope's visit to Manila in 2015.
He knew how to make a bomb,
he knew how to kill the others,
and he has an intention
to do the operation again and again
as long as he's still alive.
So, I can understand that
the authorities are looking for him
and trying to arrest him.
For years,
the Philippine authorities
had relentlessly tried to track down
and take out Marwan.
He remained elusive,
and constantly on the run.
But then, in late 2014,
it appeared as though
the cat and mouse game
could finally be over.
Intelligence pin-points
Marwan's current location.
A plan was put together,
and Operation Exodus was born.
The planning for Oplan Exodus
started December 23,
two days before Christmas.
There was an instruction
from our director that
we have to continue planning and planning
until we find a solution on
how to really take down Marwan.
The Philippine Special
Action Force, known as the SAF,
is an elite unit
of the Philippine National Police.
We know we can get
to the target without being detected.
The big question is,
how to get out all alive, safe.
So there were rehearsals
and refresher training,
until the troops were ready.
That's when we went there.
Executing
a complex mission would normally require
coordination with the military
called the Armed Forces
of the Philippines, known as the AFP.
But on this occasion,
the military were not informed.
In fact, no other government agency
knew of Operation Exodus.
It was only the SAF troopers,
Director of the PNP Intelligence Group,
their immediate two superiors,
and President Aquino
that knew of the top secret mission
to arrest and neutralize Marwan.
The plan was to inform
the Armed Forces of the Philippines
once the SAF assault force
is already in the target area.
The peace process
was considered in the planning.
That's why the approval
for the "go" signal for the mission
was up to the President.
SAF Director reiterated to us
that the President was really
pressing us to get Marwan.
At 6:00 p.m.,
on the evening of January 24th, 2015,
a SAF ground commander briefs his troopers
on this extraordinary mission.
During that night,
the feeling is kinda eerie for me.
Part of me doesn't want
to push through with the mission,
but part of me said
that I have to do this.
1ED, 1OP in the 106 BIAF...
The SAF's biggest obstacle
is to avoid possible retaliation
from Islamist guerrilla rebels
who patrol large sections of Mindanao.
Our ground commander asked,
"Is everyone willing to join?"
The troops said,
"This is what we've been waiting for.
This is a rare opportunity."
We recited a short prayer
and hugged each other.
In the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Almighty and Heavenly Father,
thank you for this wonderful evening
that you have given to us.
Lord, we are going to
undergo another operation.
Give us strength and wisdom
that we may be able to
perform this operation well.
Keep us safe that
we may be able to return to our families.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
In the name of the Father,
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Aboard two vehicles
are SAF's Seaborne Company
heading toward the vehicle drop off point.
Traveling towards
the target took, more or less, two hours.
Meanwhile,
several kilometers away,
another 300 SAF troopers are dispatched
at various positions
within a large vicinity
to act as support to the Seaborne.
To reach their target,
where Marwan is suspected to be hiding,
the Seaborne brace for a trek
of over 4.4 kilometers
through dense vegetation,
and across multiple rivers.
As lead scout...
...I went first to observe whether it's safe
to organize the team and proceed.
When I saw it was safe,
I gave the sign for the troops
to move forward.
Then our ground commander told us...
...Virgo, lead, go!
The field was dense,
the corn plants were so tall
and so close together,
it was difficult for us to pass through.
We maneuvered along the edge of the field.
We kept moving forward until
we reached the first river.
When conducting
covert operations in unknown terrains,
the SAF often use a guide
to assist in their navigation.
Our guide could not remember
his landmarks.
At the same time,
our GPS malfunctioned.
I don't know if it malfunctioned,
but, at that time, it was really cloudy.
And the tall cornfields,
I think, obstructed the GPS signal.
So it's not really
giving us an accurate direction,
which way to take.
Sergeant Jack came to me.
His GPS was working.
"Follow me," he said.
We passed through open terrain.
It was a tilled field.
Your combat shoes
sink into the plowed area
and you lose your balance.
I had a hard time.
My legs were cramping up.
We reached the main river
around 2:30. I looked at the clock.
So, tactically, it's still logical
to pursue with the mission.
As a swimmer scout...
...my comrade,
Sergeant Jack Bauer, and I swam.
My comrade secured us
and looked out for our enemies.
The water rose
and the current got stronger.
The distance across is approximately
40 meters wide.
When we reached the other side,
we climbed up the riverbank.
We tied the rope
and radioed the others,
that they could now proceed to cross.
One by one,
the Seaborne cross the river.
But then, their assault commander
suddenly runs into a problem.
We were holding at
this improvised flotation device
together with the two guides.
Ten meters from the other end,
they let go of the...
the improvised flotation device
and then they just grab on the rope.
So the flotation device
I was holding, flipped.
He sank into the water,
I saw he was exhausted.
One of the guys threw me
a rope so I can pull myself up.
I was trying to pull them up
one by one,
because the embankment of the river
was high and slippery.
I even told one guy
to do it himself,
because I was really, really tired.
I did not realize that I was
pulling up my commander!
When our commanding officer
checked the time, we were already late.
He asked Captain Tabdi,
"How many men have crossed?"
"Only 13, sir."
With just 13 men
able to cross the river,
and with daylight fast approaching,
the mission to reach Marwan's hut
is already in jeopardy.
I was thinking twice
because there was only 13 of us.
Next thing he said, "Fix your equipments.
We will assault the hut."
It was a good thing that the commander
was pushing to finish the mission.
It was useless to abort the mission,
because if you withdraw,
it would be sunrise
and you would be spotted by the enemies.
You wouldn't have accomplished
the mission, and yet you will still die.
So, let's just do this.
Now running behind schedule,
the dawn light means the SAF troopers
are now at a much higher risk of being
spotted by militant armed groups.
Exhausted from over six hours
hiking through dense vegetation,
the 13 SAF troopers
finally near the small nipa hut,
where Marwan is believed to be hiding.
There's a person
inside the hut that lighted a lamp.
Then he flashed a flashlight.
I was startled
because it almost lit up my face.
As we moved to an L type position,
I did not take my eyes
off the moving shadow inside.
I saw someone,
I was about to shoot him,
but suddenly, there was an explosion.
I felt something heavy fall on me.
I dropped the magazine I was carrying.
Then I moved back.
I could hear someone groaning,
"Allahu Akbar."
But I knew he was already in pain.
"Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar."
I answered...
...it's your time!
The firing continued.
But after a few minutes...
Ceasefire!
I also heard
guys from the left flank
telling me that there's two guys
running away from the hut.
I thought Marwan,
again, eluded arrest.
When the SAF team went inside,
they were able to verify that
there was a dead man lying there,
and when they further verified,
it is indeed Marwan.
Sir, positive!
That's him!
In just a few seconds,
they shouted, "Bingo!"
"Bingo!" he said.
It means we got the target!
The SAF was
about to conduct a retinal scan of Marwan
and take body fluids,
but due to heavy fire,
they decided to cut off the finger.
Senior Inspector Gednat Tabdi,
who's the team leader who went inside,
decided just to cut the finger
for DNA sampling.
They took some pictures,
and gathered all the evidence.
Once we have gathered
what we need to gather,
we need to extricate ASAP.
The intense firepower blows their cover,
leaving the SAF
very little time to extricate.
After we extricated,
they still continued firing at us.
But I strictly gave instructions
not to fire back.
Because they would know
which direction they are
going to pursue us.
They fired at us,
but we did not fire back
because we knew
they only wanted to locate us.
We had an accounting,
a personnel accounting at that time.
So when everyone is all accounted,
we immediately go back
to crossing the river.
They were shouting
"Allahu Akbar!"
They kept firing.
We could hear them coming closer to us.
I was confident because
my comrades were there.
There was a good number of us,
and I was the only one wounded.
A few kilometers away,
another SAF company, called the 55th,
are also on the move.
The 55th are on their way
to provide support
to the returning Seaborne Company.
At the bridge,
we heard people shouting.
When we looked through
our night vision goggles,
we saw armed men
pointing their guns at us.
We did not fire on them
because there was an order
not to fire unless fired upon.
But we could not move forward.
We were stuck there until daylight.
By now,
daylight has severely compromised
the SAF's visibility to enemy groups.
But they continue forward with the hope
of joining forces with the 55th.
We were extracting, to move
to a safer place, and move to the 55th.
About 200, 300 meters...
away from the river...
We suddenly heard
simultaneous sounds of gunfire
in from area of the 55th.
Having heard
the 55th come under severe fire,
the Seaborne are forced to take cover.
So, we hid ourselves pretty well because
we can see some, you know,
communities in the area.
Armed rebels belonging to
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,
known as the MILF,
and the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters
known as the BIFF,
are only meters in front.
The enemies were walking by us,
the MILF, the BIFF,
they were all together.
They're not a separate group.
You could see their uniforms.
And you can see father and son,
the father egging his son to hurry up
so they can have their war trophies,
like their firearms and their,
you know, their clothing.
You can see also from where
we're staying in that vegetated area,
the women and children are leaving.
A few kilometers away,
and the 55th wonder why
the Seaborne has not yet appeared.
We thought
that the Seaborne Company
was already there...
...to link immediately with us,
then withdraw from there.
In the few minutes
that did not happen,
we realized we were surrounded.
Now surrounded by rebels,
the 55th are showered with gunfire.
Our tactical command post called us,
telling us we should reinforce the 55th
because they had so many casualties.
Sir, Mike Echo
is presently at waypoint 16.
We are hearing shots.
Who are engaged?
I was puzzled,
"Why are we the one being instructed
to reinforce the 55th,"
when, in fact, the main body of the SAF,
around 300, were just around
700 meters away from them.
Recon team, recon team, come to me.
Without any questions asked,
we just followed orders.
Let's assess the situation
and try to figure out a passage
to get to the 55th.
- Go.
- Sir.
Go.
All of a sudden,
our lead scout, Sergeant Jack,
ran back to us and said,
"We have many enemies in front."
I was flat on my belly,
and he saw us.
Our distance was seven to ten meters.
But we cannot shoot a child.
He fired at me.
Brr-oop!
My pants got hit.
Knowing that the
55th have come under extreme firepower,
the only way out now is to penetrate
the rebel encampment ahead of them.
So I instructed the sniper team to
pre position themselves to give fire cover
for the maneuvering teams
as we go for a bounding overwatch.
We did the double line formation.
At the left, Team 1 was shooting
while Team 2 was moving forward.
Once Team 2 moves forward,
they will fire,
and then Team 1 will move forward.
More or less, there were 70 of them.
Some fell,
some scampered away
when we assaulted them.
We tried our best to reach the area of
the 55th company so we could help them.
The Seaborne edge
ever closer to what remains of the 55th.
One of the troopers fires a coded signal
to let the 55th know they are close.
We signaled through gunfire
to let the other team know we're here.
Mortar!
Pull back! Pull back!
We were answered by mortar bombs
that exploded right in front of me.
There's massive fire everywhere.
And there's successive mortar fire
coming from all directions.
So instead of reinforcing the 55th,
we have to maneuver to save our own lives.
We retreated
since we were under mortar fire.
We thought it was the army.
We called the command post
and said, "Don't mortar us."
The command post answered
that they had not released any mortar.
Our morale sank lower
because it was the enemy bombing us.
But then,
there is a moment of hope.
Finally, government authorities
have become aware of the mission
happening in Mindanao.
And over the phone,
make a desperate plea with MILF leaders
to agree to a ceasefire.
We get a call, again,
from the tactical command post
that there will be a ceasefire.
The CCCH or the Coordinating Committee
on the Cessation of Hostilities
will be intervening.
They said that the MILF
was going to withdraw.
The firing slowly stopped.
What place is this?
In police headquarters.
At the headquarters of the police
We felt happy and relieved,
and we relaxed a bit
They said the Army was coming to fetch us,
and we believed them.
You aim it right, aim it!
- You go there.
- Opps, don't go yet.
Here they are.
What's taking so long to fire?
The ceasefire
did not help us at all.
In fact, it made things worse.
We observed the ceasefire,
but our enemies did not.
It was a chance for them
to regroup and attack us.
But after an hour,
all hell breaks loose.
You take cover!
I doubt they will fire on you!
The gun battle leaves
the 55th c ompany decimated.
Except for one survivor.
Fellow troopers were wiped out.
I left looking for the others.
Where are all of you?
Until I saw PO1 Bilog.
We were fighting side by side.
I don't remember how we got separated.
That's when I decided
to jump into the river.
We reached an open area.
then we have to move by...
by twos to give fire cover
to the other team.
In the middle of that
you really have to run,
or else you get hit by sniper fire.
So we moved by twos going to
the cornfield near the river embankment.
The growing number of rebels
is overwhelming,
and the Seaborne are forced
to take cover in a cornfield.
We have to crawl
for them not to, uh, see us.
That's the time we get separated.
And that's the time also
that large rebel groups
are really surrounding us.
They really surrounded us.
There was
extreme gunfire in front of us.
I could feel we were all going much slower
because our water had run out,
we were hungry and tired
from carrying our heavy packs.
Their snipers went on,
their crew-served weapons kept going,
they continued mortaring us.
I was wondering where
they got all their ammunition.
And every time
there's a machine gun firing at us,
we can feel the cornfields,
like there's a lawnmower on top of you.
Every wave of gunfire
is like we're just waiting
for our deathbed.
I shouted and said,
"Let's stay here.
It's better to die from bullets
than to die of exhaustion"
I felt I could collapse in 30 minutes,
and the enemies could kill me
by beating me up.
That's why I said,
"These animals have been
chasing us all morning.
"Let's just wait for them here.
"Once they're close,
that's when we fire back.
That way, we don't waste our bullets."
Allahu Akbar!
We were having a hard time,
because it was almost 12 noon.
Almost all of us were weak,
thirsty and dehydrated.
I saw three of my men
drinking IV fluid.
So it gave me a...
you know, small, uh, what you call this,
an inch of energy from that IV fluid.
One of our comrades crept toward
a sugarcane plant.
He took some
and he divided it among all of us.
I saw ten of our guys,
you know, munching on a sugar cane.
So, I lie down with one of our guys.
He talked to me about his growing kids.
And I don't want to talk about that
in that kind of situation.
So I gave him the assurance
that we will all make it out alive,
and we just have to continue fighting.
I have to talk to Tabdi
and tell him that we just
have to wait until night time
before we move again and make
our last stand or hold the ground.
I borrowed the cellphone of my comrade,
and texted my family, "Goodbye."
I told them, "This is it, it's all over.
I won't come home anymore."
I thanked them
for sending me to school, for raising me.
Lying flat on the cornfield,
I called my brother.
I said, "Bro, pray for me.
We are being surrounded."
One of those who got hit, shouted,
"I love you very much, my baby,
even if I haven't seen you yet."
His wife recently gave birth.
He said, "Here's my cellphone,
please contact my wife for me."
Take positions by the coconut tree.
One by one, my comrades fell.
One by one, they were shot.
I'm hit! Get down!
Get down, get down!
The gunner beside me
sat and held the chest
of the person beside me.
Get down, get down!
I shouted at him, "Get down!
They will fire again."
Get down!
He got down.
When he let go,
Kodiamat was already dead.
Buhawi, throw me the gun!
For seven months,
we trained for this operation
against Marwan.
I never went home to my family.
That's why, that morning,
when I called them,
I really really wanted to tell them...
...that I was going to be on an incredibly...
...dangerous mission.
But we are not...
allowed to tell them.
But if I told them maybe
for the last time,
they could say, "I love you."
It's very hard for me when...
when each one of them
is already saying goodbye
and we still have, you know,
uh, a long way to go.
So I told them that, uh,
don't think that way
because we have to fight on.
And because the injured comrades
and the other comrades here
are relying on us.
The wounded were shouting,
What is this? Is there no CASEVAC?
Is there no one coming to help us?
The number of deaths
rapidly kept increasing
from 12:30 to four o'clock.
There was even more wounded
because of the continuous firing.
Wake up, Tabdi!
Sir, sir. Wake up Sir.
Sir, Tabdi is gone!
Tabs! Tabs, wake up!
Sir, when will we get reinforcements?
Sir!
I need a cellphone!
Sir, presently at GC,
18671-03891.
Sir, we have
many dead and wounded!
We need artillery support!
See where the Artillery will land.
I was... I was losing hope at that time.
I called tactical command post.
"Sir, if you don't give us
any artillery support,
we will die here."
5:30, uh, the first white phosphorous
was delivered
around 100 meters away from us.
White phosphorous is
a chemical that spontaneously ignites
when exposed to air,
sending out thick smoke,
accompanied by an acrid smell.
It is used to mark the target
in preparation of the delivery
of high explosive rounds.
It fell exactly where
we thought the enemy snipers were.
Once the first
white phosphorous was delivered,
the gunfire, you know, subsided.
Till the last phosphorous was fired,
there's no gunfire at all.
Sir, any instruction?
Account for
all the dead and wounded!
Secure the perimeter!
Copy, sir.
You can smell
the, uh, the smell of blood everywhere.
I was trying to look beside me,
who is Captain Tabdi,
who was shot in the head.
And on my left
is late Senior Police Officer Acob
who's also hit in the head.
I don't know yet, at that time, how many
were killed or how many were wounded.
But I can still hear their...
their moans and groans.
Our ground officer ordered,
"Let's not leave them.
Even if they're dead,
let's not leave them."
We all answered, "Yes, sir."
I was ready to die there.
We're not going to leave without them.
One of the juniors approached me,
I was shaking.
He was hugging me,
telling me we can do it, we will live.
Once we secured the perimeter
and some of the able guys
were able to do all the accounting,
who's wounded,
who's injured.
So all in all, we get 15 wounded...
and eight killed in action.
The darkness is starting to set in,
and it is such a peaceful night.
Like you can see bright stars
just lying there, staring in the sky.
As if it didn't witness
a hell in Mamasapano.
But, um, you can smell,
you can see your dead comrades
beside you, and the wounded.
Until such time that
the reinforcement was, uh,
about to arrive,
tactical command post told me that
the ground commander
will be going inside
to help us retrieve the bodies.
And help the wounded.
And what's so sad about it was,
the supposed guys to reinforce us,
to help us carry our dead comrades
and wounded are not enough.
So they have to drag the bodies.
Because of lack of equipment.
Careful!
Help. Help.
American air support
goes in to assist the wounded.
It is not known how much US involvement
was incurred in Operation Exodus.
After...
After I arrived at
the vehicle drop off point,
I see, uh...
around several SAF troopers in the area.
I was really mad at them.
Why didn't you reinforce us?
What did you do?
Why did you stay in the main road?
The feeling that
you left us inside there to die,
that's the kind of feeling that I felt.
And one of the officers hugged me.
And after he hugged me,
I break down and cry.
Some of the people
were hugging us on the highway.
That's when I knelt down and just sobbed.
They hugged me.
I cried as I told them
Lieutenant Acob is dead,
Sergeant Inocencio is dead.
They cried, too.
Where are the others?
Here, we found one here!
For the one
and only survivor of the 55th company,
the return to base is especially painful.
I'm not happy
because I lost all my friends.
Especially when I went back to Zamboanga,
all the beds were empty.
I could hear each one's
signature words and moves.
But there was no one there,
all the beds were empty.
Some weeks after the mission,
the FBI released a statement
to say DNA tests
taken from the severed finger
confirmed the suspect as Marwan.
A DNA sample from his finger
matched that of Marwan's brother
detained in a US facility.
After so many years on the run,
Marwan could finally be struck off
the FBI's most wanted list.
But in the Philippines,
the news of Marwan's
successful neutralization
is muted by the outrage
at how Operation Exodus
was handled by the authorities.
The overriding question is
why the beleaguered SAF
failed to receive
any back up from the military,
despite the SAF's desperate pleas
as rebels pounded them relentlessly.
Military General, General Catapang
had just arrived in Zamboanga, Mindanao
when he first heard
the news of a gunfight
involving the SAF.
When we arrived in Zamboanga,
I was informed by General Guerrero,
the West Mindanao Command,
that there was
a firefight going on in Mamasapano.
But at that time we were so blinded
because we were not part of the planning.
And in fact, "General Guerrero,
what... what are you saying about?"
Because nobody knew
what was happening.
General Alan Purisima
is a former Director General
of the Philippine National police.
He co-planned Operation Exodus
and reassured
his commander-in-chief President Aquino
that everything was under control.
I think the President
was already receiving text messages
from Purisima.
But they were
informing the President
that everything is just normal.
That there was an ongoing firefight
and that the AFP
was already providing the reinforcement,
and so forth, and so on.
So we were just relaxing.
But the situation on the ground
was far from being in control.
There was an immediate attempt to stop...
to stop the fighting.
But, as I mentioned,
if you are already in
a "pintakasi" situation,
just to say stop fighting
is not going to do it.
President Aquino was
in Zamboanga at that time
with some of his main officers.
But as I understand it,
even they could not make sense of it, uh,
for a while.
One of the few police generals
that did know about Operation Exodus
was this man, General Napeas.
From past 8:00 in the morning
all the way up to ten, up to one o'clock,
I made a lot of requests
through text messages
to General Espina, General Purisima,
General Guerrero,
General Pangilinan, Colonel Del Rosario,
requesting for the artillery support,
because our troops, the 55th SAF
particularly, were surrounded.
And it is only through artillery support
that they will be able to extricate.
But saving
the peace process was considered
and so the AFP could
not fire on the MILF rebels.
You said, "The order is only to extricate,
but do not engage the MILF,
because we do not want to endanger
the peace process."
Yes, Your Honor, that's my statement.
So you sacrificed the 44?
No, Your Honor, because, uh,
by that time the CCH
or Cessation of Hostilities
were already inside the area.
Yes, but by that time
the MILF was still shooting at the 44.
Most of them
were still alive, right?
- Yes, but...
- So at that time, you had two missions.
The two were conflicting.
Save the peace process
or save the 44.
It's like you ordered them
to go boxing
but with hands tied behind their backs.
Because you told them
not to engage the MILF.
How can they get out the 44
and the rest who were there
if they cannot engage the MILF?
As the casualties were mounting,
Napeas was begging
for support from the military.
From my begging,
General Guerrero answered,
"I will talk to General Pangilinan."
I gave him immediately the coordinates
provided by Superintendent Train
taken from the GPS that they were using.
Napeas passed map coordinates
locating the troubled SAF troopers,
but there was a problem.
The military did not...
was doubting
the coordinates being passed
by the SAF elements.
Simply because these
were taken from Google map.
And I could not, uh,
actually read out
the location from a Google map.
Perhaps there was a way that
the Philippine National Police
could do that,
but in so far as the AFP elements
are concerned,
we were trained or, uh,
we were trained to use
the United States military tactical maps.
Contrary to AFP assertions,
the PNP-SAF was using almost
real time military type satellite maps,
and the Global Positioning System
or GPS to determine their exact location.
The 45th company
tried to reinforce the 55th.
But without proper artillery support,
they could not break through to reinforce
their surrounded fellow SAF troopers.
So a second option was
to send in military soldiers,
but there was another problem.
Our soldiers were there
and then we were telling
the SAF people who were not engaged,
that we have to go and engage them.
Unfortunately,
if you force yourself there,
you'll get casualties.
By 2:30 p.m., the situation
on the ground had gone from bad to worse.
It was upon the orders
of General Rustico Guerrero,
Commander of the Western Mindanao Command,
that General Edmundo Pangilinan
fired the first round
of white phosphorous at 5:30 p.m.
upon the desperate pleas
of the SAF commander.
It was the judgement call
of the commander
of the 6th Infantry Division.
Judgement call
of the 6th Infantry Division,
General Pangilinan,
even if the criteria was not met,
but it was too late already in the,
in the evening,
or too late in the afternoon,
that he was forced to make
a decision to fire a shot.
But, again, that shot was not,
uh, an explosive shot.
It was a shot as a marking round,
if only to scare people away.
Or if only to scare the rebels away
from the Philippine
National Police elements.
Pangilinan gives the order
to fire a round of white phosphorous
into an area occupied by
the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
The rebels retreat.
After that,
all the attackers of the 84th SAF
who surrounded them,
they all scampered away,
and left the place, and there was silence.
The President wanted to make sure that
all will be accounted for.
So when the last element
of the main body,
the one who were able to get Marwan,
were already recovered,
that was the time the President, uh,
went back to Malacaang to sleep.
Once President Aquino was back
in the presidential palace of Malacaang
on the evening of January 26th,
44 SAF troopers lay dead in Mamasapano,
with countless injured and a number
of militants killed in the conflict.
Despite the successful neutralization
of Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist,
it was also one of the darkest days
in modern Philippine history.
Has Garry not yet arrived?
I don't know.
I can't say it was worth it, you know?
Yeah, I can't say it was worth it.
If you go to an operation
and probably, you know,
you accomplish your mission,
but...
one of your men gets killed,
I still consider it as a failed operation.
That's the way I see it personally,
a personal point of view.
Even if I, you know, uh...
let us say, capture a camp,
killed many of our enemies,
but if one of my men gets killed,
I always consider it as a failure.
Why was there
no apparent prior coordination
between the Philippine National Police
and the military armed forces,
known as the AFP?
Coordination means,
uh, you need to lay down your plans,
so that the Armed Forces...
the Armed Forces would
be able to know its role
in your particular operation,
how they can support you.
Doing so, you have to,
you know, spell out everything.
And probably it will take many days before
a particular operation will be launched.
According to sources,
President Aquino did inquire
into how the military were going
to be involved in the operation,
but Napeas advised against it.
When he mentioned about
the coordination with the military,
I politely answered,
"With all due respect, sir,
the military in Central Mindanao
is compromised."
That during operations and planning,
the high value targets
gets information
about impending operations.
That's why, my recommendation,
coordination with the military
in Central Mindanao or the 6th ID,
should be time-on-target.
However, there is some dispute
over what "time-on-target" actually means.
"Time-on-target" is a concept
being used by
the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
particularly by the Air Force.
It just means that, uh...
It just indicates the time
by which ammunition or a weapon...
uh, ammunition or a bomb
is supposed to be dropped on target.
So I think, it's not a...
it's not even a coordination.
So I think it's just information that
we will give you
when we are already there in the target.
So there was no coordination, there was no
planning involved.
While it was
Napeas' recommendation
to co-ordinate only by time on target,
it was his superior, General Purisima,
who finally approved the decision.
But General Purisima
should not have been involved at all.
He had been suspended
from duty two months earlier,
for alleged corruption.
So why was a suspended police officer
overseeing Operation Exodus
in full view of the President?
It was General Purisima,
according to General Napeas,
who committed to coordinate
with General Catapang of the AFP
Since the 1980's,
it is widely acknowledged
that General Purisima and President Aquino
have had a long-standing
personal friendship.
The officer-in-charge
should be providing the orders.
But in this particular case,
it was a suspended officer
who has the full support
and trust of the President.
If you see someone...
uh, closely associated with the President,
and then the President condones that,
then who am I to, you know,
who am I not to follow orders?
It was the President calling the shots.
And I...
I have that in here and in here.
That it's not General Purisima
calling the shots in the operations
against Marwan, it is the President.
The commander-in-chief
is the commander-in-chief,
and he can call the shots,
he can bypass,
he can break the chain of command.
But it's going to be
his sole responsibility.
As we say, the buck stops
at the table of the President
or the commander-in-chief.
You know, I think that the intention
of the President was really good.
I think his intention
to be able to capture a terrorist
is right.
He, he really needed to do that.
But then,
he should have ensured, number one,
the safety also of the men that,
that would have done the operation.
And in his mind, they were safe.
Because, as you know, in one of the
conversations, the President was saying,
"If you are... If you, uh..."
"If you have enough men,
and, in fact, you have
more men than them,
why are you retreating?"
This was his question to Napeas, I think.
"If they are truly outnumbered
by our police,
why is our police the ones
that are retreating?"
So, obviously, the President was not given
the exact picture of what was happening.
There are many, many examples,
not only in the Philippines,
but in other conflicts
where a top commander, a president even,
tries to micromanage
what's happening on the ground
without knowing exactly what's going on,
with tragic consequences.
This is another example of that.
But what I do know
the President repeatedly said,
his order to the SAF force, commander,
is that there should be
coordination with the AFP.
Would that be sufficient? Yes.
Because the AFP on the ground
is so conscious
of its protocols with the MILF.
But these were not followed.
So I think the President himself...
didn't fully understand also
why this had happened.
When, for him,
his instructions were quite clear.
For the President,
he may not be legally liable,
but he is politically,
and he was politically liable for it.
That's why, as commander-in-chief,
everything that happens in the country
has a direct impact on you
and how your policies are.
But this we can clearly see
that the President was aware of it.
He knew about it.
And yet, he did not follow
the right protocols,
which led to the demise of 44 men.
So when I say, what is the responsibility
of the President?
It is not just I who say
that he's responsible for it,
he said so himself.
That he is responsible for what happened.
We did the operations
against Marwan, again,
not for money, not for glory.
We just do it...
for the sake of safety
and for a better place for us to live.
Second, as I have said earlier, honor.
Because I cannot take it
that we have an international terrorist
in the country.
And the police, and the military not being
able to do something to neutralize him.
We didn't go there for the bounty.
We went there to do our job,
to fulfill our duty.
We were able to neutralize
the number one terrorist
in the country, but, uh...
And in the region.
But the loss could have been avoided.
And that is where, I think, uh...
the President, President Aquino himself,
as he said,
he will bring this to his grave.
The manner by which he handled himself
was, uh...
unprecedented and unpresidential.
I was trying to...
recall what happened, what went wrong.
At that time, there were
many thoughts lingering in my mind,
whether I should have aborted it or not,
or whether, if we had pushed through
with the mission or not,
would it have made a difference?
"Would it save the lives of 44 souls
if I had aborted it?
And I said no.
Because those 44 souls
have served their purpose.
They served a greater purpose.
There is a saying that goes,
"Our destiny is engraved in the stars"
And even if we try to rewrite history,
it's already in place.
We should honor them
for what they are, heroes,
in the true sense of the word.
Heroes by ancient definition were,
any man or woman, young or old, you know,
who help build for the next generation.
And this is what the 44 did, in effect.
By doing their duty
to the best of their ability,
sacrificing their lives,
their honor, their families,
they all helped build a better nation
for the next generation of Filipinos.
And for that, we should be thankful
and we should be proud.
These images are
of the returning coffins to Manila
belonging to the fallen SAF troopers.
Sadly, the President was unable
to be present at the event.
He was busy at the inauguration
of a new car factory
just outside of Manila.
We must remember
that the uniformed services
are a different sector
from the rest of society.
The Armed Services
are the only sector of society
whose social contract includes
giving their life in defense of the state.
No other citizen has to do that.
No other citizen has that social contract.
Only soldiers and policemen do.
And that's why we have to recognize that
and see how honorable that is.
And how heroic that is.
And I think, Filipinos,
for the most part do.
Unfortunately,
that sentiment was not reflected
in the reactions of the government
after the tragedy.
They gave up their life, you know?
They gave up their life
to save more people.
The most appropriate term to call them is,
they're heroes.
How I accepted the situation,
that I'm the only one who survived...
It's a miracle, that's it.
For me, it was only a miracle.
Of course, I did what I had to do.
I applied everything
I learned from training
until I left the area.
But for me, most of all,
it was a miracle.
It's God's will.
It's God's will.
Trials are
Here
Yet we should accept them
Even though it's difficult
To accept them
Destiny gave them
To us
The key is to stand up
And continue when we fall
Sun comes out after the rain
Shining on a brand new day
Because tomorrow is full of hope
Just don't forget to call on Him
If there are bitter tears
And terrible pain
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him
Because our God continues
To guide us everyday
Even sacrificed His life
For us
Never lose hope
He is our only God
He will never leave you alone
Because tomorrow
Is full of hope
Just don't forget
To call on Him
If there are bitter tears
And terrible pain
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him
All cries to Him
Are heard by Him