PNoy, Purisima: How Involve Were They in the Mamasapano Operation?

Two weeks have passed since the tragic and heart-breaking incident that took away the lives of 44 brave young PNP-SAF men who were sent to Mamasapano in Maguindanao, which is believed to be a Moro Islamic Liberation Front territory, to serve a warrant of arrest to two known terrorists. But the public is still clamoring to bring justice to their sudden deaths.

So who is really to blame for the early demise of the #Fallen44?

Senate probes the Mamasapano tragedy

Last Monday, February 9, 2015, the Senate started to probe into the Mamasapano debacle and are looking into the involvement of top rank officials, including President Benigno Aquino III and suspended PNP Director General Alan Purisima.

Senator Grace Poe, who is leading the Senate Committee on Public Order, said she wanted to know who are exactly involved in the covert operation and how high the order came from. The lawmaker said, “Usually ang SAF, sila ang nagpo-provide ng expertise, warm bodies, yung sa kanila kasi tactical na sila pero yung strategic hindi naman sila.”

Sen. Poe added, “Sinasaba [ni Napenas] na yung window nila from th Jan. 23 until the 26^th na siya na mismo ang kumilos para doon pero sa tingin ko hindi yan maglalakas loob na walang clearance sa mas mataas pa so pilit pa natin yang tatanungin bukas.”

The lady senator also wanted to find out when the President knew about the operation as he was in Zamboanga one day before the mission was carried out. She said, “Magandang tanungin kung kelan nakarating sa kanya ang impormasyon at kung may natanggap na direktiba ang military sa Pangulo.”

More questions about the Philippine National Police Special Action Force operation were raised on Monday, including the involvement of the United States.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, said that based on the testimony of the police officials, Purisima remained involved in the operation to arrest the two hunted terrorists despite the fact that he was suspended since December of last year.

Pointing fingers

Sen. Marcos wanted to know what exactly was the role of the suspended PNP chief and why Napenas seemed to have followed his “advice.”

Sen. Marcos said, “Bakit niya sinundan? Dahil ibig sabihin syempre commander niya yun e kahit suspendido, di ba? Pero sino ang nagpasok ngayon kay General Purisima? Who brought him into the loop na suspendido siya?”

“Despite the protestation of Gen. Purisima, sa dami ng pagtatanggi nya, ay maliwanag na talagang in the loop sya, talagang nasa chain of command sya. Pa'no ngayon nangyari yun? Pa'no nangyari yun na ang isang suspendidong opisyal ay napasok sa chain of command?” he asked.

However, Purisima denied playing a role in the operation saying, “I did not know that the PNP-SAF jumped of already.”

“During my preventive suspension, I did not give any order. I just [gave] advice, not as a directive or order. I have no role in that operation.”

Purisima’s statement contradicts what Napenas told the Senate Committee. He said that he asked Purisima on Jan. 19 whether the operation to arrest Marwan should proceed. Napenas said Purisima responded, saying “Plan is a go on the timeline, Jan. 23 to 26.”

When asked by Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III on where the orders to proceed with the operation came from, Napenas said, “It’s a continuing operation approved by the PNP chief Purisima in Nov. 29, 2014.”

However, when asked to provide more information, Napenas denied any direct order from higher ranking PNP officials to proceed.

Guingona grilled the suspended PNP director general on his supposed motivation in his alleged involvement in the Mamasapano incident. Purisima insisted that he merely advised Napenas, which visibly irked the senator. He said, “Obviously, the response is not adequate. I am just asking your motivation for saying that… your answer was not acceptable.”

After Guingona’s inquiry with Purisima, Senate President Franklin Drilon revealed information of pre-operation meetings done in what they call the “White House” inside Camp Crame, referring to the official residence of the PNP chief inside the police organization’s camp. Purisima admitted he participated in two meeting while on suspension, but again denied giving orders regarding the operation.

Resigned PNP chief Purisima is now being accused with graft charges for his alleged involvement in the brutal killing of the 44 SAF members.

What does the President know of the operation?

Marcos also mentioned in his Twitter post on Feb. 6 that while his father was the President of the country, he knew of every military operation, especially if it is as major as the operation that was carried out in Mindanao last January. He said, “I remember as President, my father was knowledgeable about every military operation. The President would know about an operation this big.”

The public share the same sentiment with Sen. Marcos. Some are even calling for the President’s resignation or worse, impeachment.

The first few days since that fateful Sunday, I was enraged and took to social media to voice my anger, frustration and disbelief. I couldn’t begin to fathom how and why the President and those high ranking officials could not have known of such an important mission. I too wanted for the President to get down from his position because of the lack of empathy he has shown to the bereaved family and how he responded to the whole incident.

However, Sen. Pimentel called for calm amidst the chaos. He said the president’s resignation would only create more problems. He said, “If any, the resignation of the President will only be counterproductive since this will lead to a shake-up in the government. In this highly volatile situation, we need a leader. We need the President to lead us out of these dark days.”

Reading what Sen. Pimentel said knocked some sense to me. Whether the President gave a go signal to the mission or not does not matter right at this very moment. What we should all hope for is to bring justice to those poor men who lost their lives in Mindanao.