Purisima pleads not guilty in Mamasapano case

MANILA, Philippines - Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges of graft and usurpation of official functions in connection with his alleged involvement in the Mamasapano incident.

Purisima maintained innocence during his arraignment at the Sandiganbayan. He was accompanied by his lawyer Dexter Corpus.

Purisima’s co-accused, former PNP-Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas Jr., was not arraigned as the court has yet to resolve his motion to dismiss the case.

The court set the preliminary hearings on April 6, 7, 21 and 28 to give the prosecution and defense time to thresh out issues regarding the presentation of witnesses and evidence before the start of trial proper.

The pre-trial of the cases is set on May 3.

After the arraignment, Purisima left the courtroom and did not speak to media.?Purisima and Napeñas are facing one count each of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and usurpation of official functions as provided under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.

Purisima has posted P20,000 bail for both cases while Napeñas filed his motion for judicial determination of probable cause.

The charges stemmed from their alleged involvement in the Mamasapano incident in January 2015, which left more than 60 people dead, including 44 SAF commandos. ?Records showed Purisima and Napeñas violated the PNP chain of command when they kept then acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in the dark about Oplan Exodus.

Exodus was a covert SAF operation meant to neutralize Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman.

Purisima was under preventive suspension at the time on orders of the Office of the Ombudsman over an allegedly anomalous firearms license delivery deal.

During the operation, the SAF commandos were outnumbered by the combined forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its splinter faction Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and some private armed groups.

The encounter left 44 SAF troopers, 18 MILF members and three civilians killed.