‘SAF 44’ pain still stings for kin a decade later
Rhyza Danao was only 9 years old when her uncle Franklin Danao was killed along with 43 other members of the Police Special Action Force (SAF) in a botched government mission at Mamasapano in Maguindanao del Sur province 10 years ago.
“I was too young. I have memories of my uncle taking us on trips to Manila or here in Baguio when he was on vacation,” she said. But now that she’s 18, Danao revealed that she had applied as a cadet at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to follow in the footsteps of her uncle in the elite police unit.
Rhyza, a resident of Ifugao’s Tinoc town, joined the families of SAF 44’s slain Cordillera policemen, who gathered on Jan. 25, 2025, to commemorate their 10th death anniversary in a Mass at The Manor Gardens at Camp John Hay in Baguio City. This was the first SAF 44 commemoration at the Manor Gardens since the hotel was taken over by the government on Jan. 6.
A decade has passed but the deaths of the SAF troopers still sting their parents, wives, and children, said Edna Tabdi, mother of the late Police Chief Insp. Gednat Tabdi of La Trinidad town in Benguet province.
Low point of P-Noy term
The 44 SAF commandos were pinned down by hostile militias during a botched mission to take down suspected bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan) and Basit Usman in Mamasapano. They were were killed before their superiors could arrange their rescue. The battle also took the lives of five civilians and 17 Moro fighters.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong was the chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who led the investigation of the debacle. The investigators blamed senior government and police officials, including the late President Benigno Aquino III, for mishandling and interfering with the SAF mission, leading to the deaths of the 44 troopers. He did not attend the Mass organized by the Cordillera Police Office.
Police Brig. Gen. David Peredo, Cordillera police director, said he was assured by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority that its management team would maintain the Manor’s SAF 44 monument dedicated to Danao and Tabdi, whose remains were transferred last year to Atok town in Benguet from Zamboanga where his widow and sons live.
Put up by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña in January 2020, the marker also honors Senior Insp. Cyrus Anniban of Tabuk City, Kalinga province; Police Officer (PO) 3 Robert Allaga of Ifugao’s Banaue town; PO3 Noel Golocan of Baguio; PO2 Peterson Carap of Benguet’s Kabayan town; PO2 Walner Danao of Baguio; and PO2 Jerry Kayob of La Trinidad.
Also remembered in the memorial were PO2 Noble Kiangan of Mankayan, Benguet; PO2 Nicky Nacino Jr. of Baguio; PO2 Joel Dulnuan of Kiangan town, Ifugao; PO1 Russel Bilog of Baguio; PO1 Gringo Cayang-o of Sagada, Mountain Province; and PO1 Angel Kodiamat of Mankayan, Benguet.
Family members placed pink and purple orchids at the marker before they sat down for breakfast while their children and grandchildren played around the garden.
“For mothers like me, the death of a child will continue to be difficult. We are always in anguish,” Edna told newsmen after the Mass.
Benefits received
She recalled how the families, who were brought to Malacañang to meet Aquino shortly after the tragedy, were waved away by a Palace aide.
“‘Go back home,’ she seemed to say. We were devastated. It was a very painful moment,” she said. “We would have been happy with a simple ‘sorry’ from the government at the time.”
All the slain troopers’ immediate family members have received benefits from the government, said Peredo. Many of their children finished their studies with scholarships of their choosing, offered by the PNP and other government agencies.
Peredo said some of the SAF 44 children were inspired to pursue careers in law enforcement.
But while the families are proud of the new police officers in their midst, some harbor deep trepidation due to the trauma of their tragic loss at Mamasapano, Edna said.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who led a separate commemoration at the PNP Academy in Silang, lamented that there was still no justice for the slain commandos.
He said the troopers served with full devotion and honor.
“But the question is: where is the justice?” he said in a speech. “We have forgotten who is accountable. We have forgotten who is responsible. And we will never find it.”
New code of ethics
The DILG chief said he wanted a new code of ethics and code of service for the PNP, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in honor of the troopers’ sacrifices.
“What we will do is reform. What we will do is real change because that is what the sacrifice of the SAF 44 deserves,” he said. “Let us not forget the SAF 44. But most of all, let us not forget our oath, our duty, and our love for country.”
Magalong was dismayed that no one had been punished for the deaths of the SAF 44.
His investigation found Aquino, retired PNP chief Alan Purisima and former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas liable for the botched operation.
In January 2020, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the charges of graft and usurpation of authority against Purisima and Napeñas. The same charges against Aquino were withdrawn by Ombudsman Samuel Martires.
