MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday stressed that nobody should be blamed for the "misencounter" between police officers and soldiers in Samar on Monday that left 6 cops dead.

The Commander-in-Chief also owned up to the responsibility as he said the incident, where soldiers fired at police officers they mistook for rebels, was not intentional. 

“I’d like to tell you that the ultimate blame, fault is on me. Being the Commander-in-Chief, ako po 'yung pinaka-[lider] nila (I am their leader) and so there was a lot of tragic story weaved around the incident. Sabi ko kalimutan na lang niyo kasi hindi naman sinasadya (I said forget about it because it was unintentional),” Duterte said in a speech during the Sangyaw Festival of Lights in Tacloban City.

“Kayong mga pulis, ako 'yung pinaka kumander niyo pati kayong mga army (To the police and the army, I am your commander), so you just say that it’s all my fault but since you are my soldiers, let us forget the hurts, alllow the investigation to go on.”

On Monday, 6 members of the Eastern Visayas Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) were killed while 9 others were wounded after a clash with soldiers in Barangay San Roque, Sta. Rita town in Samar.

There were no military casualties during the clash. Sixteen soldiers from the Army's 87th Infantry “Hinirang” Battalion involved in the clash have been disarmed.

Eastern Visayas RMFB head Supt. Glen Cinco and RMFB 805th Company commander Chief Insp. Don Suspeñe have also been relieved pending investigation.

Duterte spoke about the incident as a police panel investigating the "misencounter" found evidence contradicting the narration of soldiers that the policemen they saw from a distance were muddy and appeared to be members of the New People's Army.

Photos retrieved from the mobile phone of one of the policemen involved showed his group reviewing a map, scouting the area and even taking a short break. All of them were in field service uniforms and appeared clean, contrary to claims made by military personnel that they were unrecognizable as they were covered in mud.

Mistaken for rebels? Photos show cops in uniform, weather fair before PNP-AFP 'misencounter'

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