Is the President and Commander-in-Chief Benigno Aquino III “ultimately responsible” for the botched Mamasapano anti-terror operation that claimed the lives of at least 60 people, including 44 elite Special Action Force troopers last January 25?
This was the question that begged to be answered throughout the investigations conducted on Oplan Exodus, the mission to neutralize high-value targets in supposed Moro Islamic Liberation Front territory in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
First, it was the Philippine National Police (PNP) Board of Inquiry tasked by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas that revealed last week the culpability of President Benigno Aqiuino III on the Mamasapano tragedy.
According to the BOI report, Aquino “bypassed the established PNP (Philippine National Police) Chain of Command” by dealing directly with suspended PNP chief Director-General Alan Purisima and the relieved Special Action Force (SAF) chief Dir. Getulio Napeñas Jr., instead of with the officer-in-charge Deputy Dir. Gen. Leonardo Espina.
And just early this week, the BOI findings were corroborated by the results of the Senate investigation on the January 25 Mamasapano “massacre”.
The joint Senate committee report on the Mamasapano operation says President Aquino is “ultimately responsible” for the tragedy, but pointed to the armed Moro rebels and other armed groups as the ones who “murdered and robbed the Philippine National Police Special Action Force Commandos.”
As ABS-CBN News reported, Committee Head Senator Grace Poe said in a news briefing that it is imperative that the President show leadership and accept responsibility for all decisions he has made.
“The President and other ranking officials could have done more under the circumstances to prevent or minimize the number of deaths that jolted the nation. Maaaring mayroon pa sana silang ginawa,” Poe said.
“Had the President and key security officials like Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Volt Gazmin, PNP OIC chief Leonardo Espina and Armed Forces chief Gregorio Catapang discussed the incident and shared information clearly and openly in the early stages of the tragic day, coordination between the Army and the PNP might have been hasted and fewer lives could have been lost,” she said.
“Ang Presidente po ay may immunity sa mga kaso…. The President can be held accountable through an impeachment. That’s the only way we can ask the President (to be accountable) but again it should start from Congress, ” Poe explained.
Poe, however, expressed her belief that Prersident Aquino meant well, however, it was his decision to include suspended Purisima be part of the operation that casted a shadow of doubt on his intentions.
“Sa tingin ko ang intention ng ating pangulo ay maayos. Talagang maraming pinatay si Usman at si Marwan. Dapat naman talaga ay matugis natin at mahuli sila. Magiging tapat ako, kung hindi nakasama si Purisima sa operation na ito ay hindi siguro magiging ganun kalaki ang duda, sa intensiyon at hangarin ng Pangulo,” Poe said.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, however, believed there was a lapse in judgment on the part of the President but said it was not an impeachable offense.
“From a legal point of view, Purisima should have no role at all in this whole thing. From a common sense point of view, he was the logical person to talk to since siya ang nakakaalam ng operations and it was planned under his supervision,” Belmonte said.
“In my view, he (Aquino) did not commit an impeachable offense. The only thing that can be faulted on him is the fact that he continued to talk to, receive orders from and act through Purisima,” Belmonte explained.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.
