Final autopsy report: Fallen 44 had 150 gunshot wounds

Published February 19, 2015 7:42pm

The Fallen 44—the members of the Phlippine National Police-Special Action Force that died in the Mamasapano operation on Jan. 25—suffered a total of 150 gunshot wounds, the final autopsy report obtained by GMA News showed.

As earlier reported, 29 of the commandos suffered gunshot wounds on the head. Four were shot on the chest and three on the neck.

Sr. Insp. Ryan Pabalinas suffered the most gunshot wounds with 16. They were on the head, lower jaw, neck, trunk and extremities.

Pabalinas was the person who, according to PNP-SAF officer-in-charge Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, was looking for reinforcement through radio during the clash.

He was one of the members of the 55th Special Action Company who figured in a clash with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front while trying to serve as a blocking force for the SAF team that neutralized terrorist Marwan in alleged MILF territory on Jan. 25.

"The support elements could not get in because 55th SAC was practically surrounded. We did send the reinforcements from different approaches, but could not penetrate the bulk of the enemies until about 1 p.m., when that voice was nowhere to be heard. There was a radio silence, very long silence," Taliño said of Pabalinas during the necrological service for the 44.

After the battle, I realized, that that voice will never be heard again. And I know that voice belonged to Ryan, or Senior Inspector Ryan Pabalinas," the officer added.

Close range

Meanwhile, one of the cadavers was tagged "with smudging/tattoing," which means that the shot was fired at a close range.

"Lumalabas 'yan o nakikita 'yan if the shot was made within 24 to 48 inches or even less," said Dr. Erwin Erfe, head of the Forensics Department of the Public Attorney's Office.

The autopsy report includes photos of the SAF commandos before and after the Mamasapano incident, which showed that many of them were almost unrecognizable after the clash. It also includes photos when authorities took postmortem fingerprints, paraffin test, and labeling of the caskets of the police officers.

The report also stated that only 33 of the 44 SAF troopers were found positive for gunpowder nitrates during the paraffin test. But this does not mean that the 11 police officers were not able to use their firearms during the clash.

"Kung meron ding water especially running water, mas mabilis na matanggal ang nitrates. Within a few hours, tanggal na 'yun eh... Malakas ang hangin, maraming elements dito. Kapag ganoon, less than 24 hours lang siguro itatagal ng nitrates sa body," Erfe explained.

BOI, MILF reports

A few days after the Mamasapano incident, the PNP Board of Inquiry said it would release the result of the investigation one month after. BOI also said that they may include the reports of other fact-finding bodies including that of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's independent investigation. But the two bodies have not coordinated yet.

"No coordination at the moment," BOI head Police Director Benjamin Magalong told GMA News in a text message.

To this, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar replied, "Pwede naman siguro i-reconcile ang result ng mga investigation na ito." —Trisha Macas/NB, GMA News

Tags: mamasapanoclash