A rickety wooden bridge across a stream, one of many in Bgy. Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
This leads to the area where the 41st Special Action Company was on Jan. 25.
Another stream separated the 41st SAC from the 42nd and 45th SACs.
Soldiers from the 601st Infantry Brigade along the main road. The Army provided additional security because of reports that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters might come to the area from Pikit, Cotabato.
A goat in a farming community in Tukanalipao along the way to the field where the 55th SAC was trapped in a firefight.
This wooden bridge leads to the field where the 55th SAC was trapped on Jan. 25. Locals say the bridge is usually only used by farmers. A small crowd had gathered there the day the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry came for an inspection.
This man was selling ice cream beside the bridge.
P/Dir. Benjamin Magalong, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and chairman of the BOI, at the clash site. He said the 55th SAC was not in a defensible position because there was no cover. The area is surrounded by banana trees and corn plants.
A cow grazes in the field where the 55th SAC was.
The 55th SAC is across this stream and around a ten-minute walk from the 42nd and 45th SACs.
A farmer's hut along the way.
Carabaos by the stream that separated the 42nd and 45th SACs from the 41st SAC.
This was where the 42nd and 45th SACs were on Jan. 25. The area was planted with corn at the time.
The streams can be crossed by boat or by wading across.
Members of the Maguindanao Provincial Police Office that provided security during the inspection. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front also had members providing extra security.
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A line of Army APCs at the Mamasapano town hall.
