Who gave green light? Noy can’t say

Purisima briefed Noy on manhunt  

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino admitted knowing about the police operation in Maguindanao that left 44 policemen dead last Sunday but would not identify who gave the go-signal for it.

Last Sunday’s operation had been against a number of “high-value targets” that included fugitive Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan,who has a $5-million bounty on his head, and Basit Usman, but turned into a bloodbath when clashes erupted between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force and separate forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

A total of 44 policemen were killed and 12 others were wounded in the gun battle.

Aquino, however, refused to point an accusing finger at the MILF involved in the daylong clashes.

“There are so many versions,” Aquino said, adding that he would not want to preempt or encroach on the board of inquiry tasked to investigate the incident.

Aquino also denied reports that suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima had a hand in the operation.

But he admitted Purisima had informed him earlier about the operation to arrest Zulkifli.

“He was chief PNP and he was the one reporting to me starting from roughly around May of last year,” he said.

Aquino said Purisima’s role was to explain the mission requirements of the PNP-SAF director to arrest the terrorists.

He said Purisima was involved up to a point until he was ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with a bungled firearms contract.

Aquino admitted Purisima knew all the intricacies of the police operation.

“He was very knowledgeable about the whole thing. He was explaining intricacies of what the plan was to be,” he said.

Aquino hinted at giving the strategic order but leaving it to the police to make the tactical decision to carry out the arrest of Zulkifli and the other militants.

Quite surprisingly, Aquino himself had no idea why Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina were not aware of the operation.

He said the board of inquiry would look into why the two officials were left out of the loop.

“They will look into that, why Secretary Roxas or Deputy Director General Espina were not aware of the operation – that will be borne out in the board of inquiry,” Aquino told reporters in a short question and answer forum right after his televised national address.

Aquino denied reports that the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force under Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. had a hand in the bungled operation.

“That’s news to me,” Aquino said.