An army general and two senior officers will be recommended for court martial on suspicion they allowed the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf to escape during a massive military siege.
Senate defence committee chairman Ramon Magsaysay said yesterday his draft committee report concluded that 'circumstantial evidence does seem to point to collusion between some military officers and the Abu Sayyaf' and 'operational lapses'.
Senator Magsaysay said the soon-to-be-released report would also recommend 'the Department of Justice look into some criminal actions that were perpetrated'.
The unprecedented recommendations by a civilian body on a purely military operation are expected to cause a stir.
They are the first official affirmation of what residents of strife-torn Basilan have long claimed - that terrorists could not be eradicated because elements within the military aided them.
Those allegedly involved were brigadier-general Romeo Dominguez, whom President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promoted to major-general after the incident, Colonel Juvenal Narcise and Major Eliseo Campued.