Where was the commander-in-chief?

As the entire grieving nation watched while 42 fallen members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force came home in flag-draped coffins to the Villamor Air Base, guess where their commander-in-chief was? Why, he was giving a speech at the inauguration of a Mitsubishi car manufacturing plant in Laguna. To the car-loving Noynoy Aquino, opening a car plant was much more important than extending the honor of his presence to those who gave their lives for their country.

Oh well, what can anyone expect from a president who was never meant to be one, who never had what it takes to be one. Noynoy does not have the slightest idea about the tremendous responsibilities demanded by his office. When the SAF policemen were killed last Sunday by combined forces of the MILF and BIFF while trying to arrest two wanted terrorists, Noynoy as president and commander-in-chief should have been the first to be informed of the incident. But he was nowhere in sight.

Whatever he was doing for three days, I do not know. But it was not until early Wednesday evening that he appeared on nationwide tv to address the nation about the incident. And what did Noynoy tell the nation? That he knew about the operation. That his best friend and buddy Alan Purisima, the suspended PNP chief, was in charge of the operation.

In other words, Noynoy was very much involved and shared no little responsibility for what happened. If for that alone, plus the fact that he is the president and the commander-in-chief, the least he could have done was to be at the Villamor Air Base to personally receive the bodies of his own men, whose foray into enemy territory he had direct knowledge of, and had his tacit approval as well.

Even if the operation turned into a complete disaster, Noynoy should have had the balls to own up the debacle. That's what is expected of leaders. Leadership requires biting the bullet if necessary. Leadership is not only about basking in the accolades of success, which he certainly would have done had the mission ended up otherwise.

In fact, that is precisely what a retired officer told Karen Davila in her Headstart program on ANC, that the entire operation was hatched to allow Purisima the chance to score some strategic p.r. victory as a counterweight to the heavy burden of plunder and questionable wealth heaped on his shoulders, and for which reason he has been suspended by the Ombudsman.

And that brings up another point about Noynoy being clueless about the responsibilities demanded by his office. Purisima is under suspension, so how come Noynoy allowed him to take charge of a mission. Clearly Noynoy is a party to a direct violation of the Ombudsman order suspending Purisima. He may also have abused his authority in relation to the violation. More importantly, as chief executive, he may have overstepped his bounds by messing with a judicial prerogative.

That both Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina were kept in the dark about the operation exposes Noynoy as a duplicitous and sneaky individual and therefore someone who cannot be trusted. And while he kept Roxas in the dark, Davila's tv guest insisted that executive secretary Paquito Ochoa was in on the whole thing as head of the Palace's anti-terrorism body.

No wonder Noynoy took great pains in stressing that Ochoa did not know a thing. Because Ochoa and Roxas belong to opposing camps silently bickering inside Malacañang. Noynoy was playing both Roxas and Ochoa but did not want to slight either. But now Roxas knows. Noynoy himself gave Ochoa away. By his inordinate protesting of Ochoa's innocence, Noynoy only called attention to his complicity.

But never mind if Purisima and Ochoa were in on the whole botched operation. The buck still stops with Noynoy. He may not have given the go ahead himself (it was not his to give in the first place) but by being in the know of the entire operation right from the planning stage, as he himself admitted in his televised address, no actual presidential go ahead was required. It was understood.

That is why I cannot understand why, after being so deeply involved, Noynoy had to take his own sweet time before saying anything. Why did it have to take him several days to face the nation? Worse, when he did face the nation, he was not the strong leader that the nation needed when the call was for every Filipino to be reassured.

Instead, Noynoy was incoherent. First he admitted having been in on the whole operation. Then he insisted that the peace process with the Muslim rebels must go on. What is Noynoy saying? Sending police troops into rebel areas on the one hand, and then harping about the need to keep the peace on the other, is simply neither here or there. Not only is Noynoy confused, he is disrespectful.