Miriam: P-Noy, Purisima must be held accountable

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino, resigned national police chief Alan Purisima and relieved Special Action Force (SAF) commander Director Getulio Napeñas should be held accountable for the Mamasapano fiasco, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday.

“I am naming President Aquino because I don’t think it serves public interest to fudge the issue – to never mention his name, like he was some sacred cow. I don’t think he needs my protection. He can stand for himself,” Santiago said, citing the highly confidential nature of the operation plan.

“The defense being raised is that the operation has been kept secret except among three people: President Aquino, General Purisima and General Napeñas,” she said.

Santiago said the failure of the police operation that led to the deaths of the 44 SAF commandos “was all part of the discharge by the President of his functions as commander-in-chief of the Philippine Armed Forces.”

“So, in effect, all must assume responsibility for the failure – in fact not only failure, but the massacre that took place.”

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also said President Aquino must take full responsibility for the botched operation.

“I do not want to offend the President but somebody has to tell him that he has to stop this blame game by taking full responsibility for what happened in Mamasapano,” Duterte said.

“As mayor of Davao City, for example, I take full responsibility for whatever happens in an operation which I ordered to be implemented,” Duterte said, citing a case where policemen who were following his orders were charged for the killing of suspected kidnap for ransom gang members in the city last year.

According to Santiago, Philippine National Police-Intelligence Group director Chief Superintendent Fernando Mendez Jr. should also assume accountability for intelligence failure.

Mendez provided the intelligence packet on Malaysian terrorist Zulkilfi bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Abdul Basit Usman, which became the basis of the mission.

During the hearing at the Senate inquiry over the Mamasapano incident, Purisima and Napeñas pointed to Mendez as the one who provided the intelligence packet.

Santiago also sees the pattern that all blame is pinned on Napeñas in an attempt to protect an apparent improper order given by the suspended police chief.

“That leaves General Napeñas with no choice. If Purisima would take responsibility, it would mean he violated the terms of his preventive suspension. That’s why it had to be Napeñas,” she said.

For this, Santiago also expressed belief that Napeñas is being used as a scapegoat for assuming responsibility over what happened.

“He’s a scapegoat. But he’s a sacrificial lamb, at the cost of telling the truth to the entire Filipino people,” she said.

Pressed further if she thinks that President Aquino had a direct hand in Oplan Exodus and that he allowed Purisima to take control of the operation, Santiago did not reject the possibility.

“The answer is categorically yes. He had a direct hand from the very beginning, according to his own admission,” she said.

Santiago debunked the President’s claims that he dropped out of the line of command since he had been briefed about the two high-value targets for the past four years. “I don’t buy that,” she said.

Those held responsible can be tried by court martial or be charged as civilians in local courts and undergo the process of preliminary investigation before the ombudsman, Santiago said.

Immunity from suit

The President can be impeached, Santiago said, but she also recognized that impeachment is a numbers game.

“Impeachment is not purely a question of law, but a question of how many votes he has in either chamber. If his party, the Liberal Party, has enough votes, they can kill an impeachment complaint in the Lower House alone, so it will never reach the Senate,” she said.

Since the President enjoys immunity, Santiago said he loses immunity when he leaves office in 2016.

President Aquino is also not completely forthcoming about his role in the operation, Santiago noted.

She said she was not completely convinced about Aquino’s demeanor in his two previous national address when he initially admitted knowing about the operations against Marwan but distanced himself from having given the orders to proceed.

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Santiago added.

She also urged the authorities to look into the reported intervention of the US government into the incident “so that we can see how much intervention took place and at what level.”

“Was there a drone there? We don’t know. The important question is this: When the finger was cut off Marwan, why was it sent to the FBI and not to the NBI? Is there anything derogatory implied in the failure to give the finger for identification to the NBI,” Santiago said.

Purisima: I am accountable

As the Senate conducted its third hearing yesterday, Purisima admitted he was accountable for the Mamasapano fiasco – about a week after he announced his resignation as police chief.

“I delegated the responsibility but I did not delegate the accountability,” Purisima told the senators after Santiago gave him a dressing down and reminded him about breaking the rules of the suspension ordered by the ombudsman.

Purisima received a mouthful from Santiago, who took time to attend yesterday’s hearing despite her bout with lung cancer.

Santiago cited jurisprudence in pointing out where Purisima overstepped the limits of his preventive suspension, noting the police official should not even have been allowed to continue staying at the PNP White House.

Santiago then lectured the resigned PNP chief: “A suspended official is barred from performing functions of his office. You performed the function of your office albeit in a surreptitious manner. You meddled.”

Santiago went on: ”What made you violate? Maybe you are too busy talking to so many people involved in the operations.

“Why did you do that while you’re under preventive suspension – and don’t play words with me. Words are my livelihood,” Santiago added.

This was when Purisima replied curtly that he already delegated a commander in control before his suspension. Purisima further got the senator’s ire when he reiterated that he was merely giving advice.

“It was an advice not an order. Really?” she asked. “You are blaming it on the SAF? Common sense dictates that you and President Aquino are talking to each other over this.”

Poe vows to seek the truth

Sen. Grace Poe reiterated yesterday the Senate panel is committed to work for truth, justice and peace for the victims of the Mamasapano encounter.

The Senate committees on public order, peace and finance vowed to ensure that all sides and information crucial to the determination of the truth would be taken into account in the committee report.

Poe underscored that all those behind the brutality must be made accountable.

The senators expect further answers from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on the reported actions of “MILF members” during the Mamasapano incident.

At the same time, Poe showed disappointment over the deliberate and ignominious taping and release of the video showing the “overkill” of the 44 SAF men.

She said the video was barbaric and brutal. “We are condemning the people who took that video,” she said.

In the course of the hearings, Poe maintained that sobriety must prevail as the nation pursues the truth. – Delon Porcalla