‘Hold position’ last message sent to Napeñas

MANILA, Philippines - As Special Action Force (SAF) commandos were fighting their way out of a village in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the afternoon of Jan. 25 after killing terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, their commander was getting a flurry of text messages, including one from an officer stating that they “hold” their position.

Based on text messages he presented to the body investigating the Mamasapano clash, then SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas received one from team leader Supt. Hendrix Mangaldan, which read “Ando mga CCCH, ceasefire. Hold position.” CCCH stands for Coordinating Council for the Cessation of Hostilities.

The sacked SAF chief received the message at 1:39 p.m. of Jan. 25.

It was not clear if Mangaldan’s message had kept SAF support teams from mobilizing to reinforce their comrades fighting off guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

At around that time, Napeñas was also informing then suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima, PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina and Army 6th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan that more MILF fighters were besieging the trapped SAF commandos.

At 1:04 p.m., Napeñas sent a desperate message to Pangilinan and Espina asking for indirect fire support.

He also texted the location of the beleaguered commandos.

Espina forwarded Napeñas’ text to Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, who heads the military’s Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.

In one of the messages, at 1:24 p.m., Espina inquired: “Bakit may balitang 11 na patay sa SAF (Why is there a report of 11 SAF dead)?” 

Napeñas said the report was unconfirmed, but there were wounded SAF commandos.

From various accounts, many of the 36 members of the 55th Special Action Company (SAC), which was the blocking force, were already dead at that time.

Purisima’s last text to Napeñas came at 1:27 p.m.: “Yung location na binigay mo kanina?”

At 1:33 p.m., Napeñas replied to Purisima: “Sir meron Army sa ground na puwede mag FO Sir.” It is not clear what FO means.

Active from day one

Even while under suspension as PNP chief, Purisima constantly monitored the Mamasapano operation, from the preparations, its progress on the day it was carried out, as well as the SAF troopers’ encounter with elements of the MILF and the BIFF.

The clashes left 44 SAF men and 18 MILF fighters dead.

On Jan. 25, Purisima was almost two months into his six-month suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman on corruption charges.

Lawmakers said Purisima’s playing a role in the Mamasapano operation, called Operation Plan Exodus, has blurred and confused the chain of command in the PNP.

Based on his messages, Napeñas still regarded Purisima as “CPNP” or chief PNP, while he considered Espina as “OIC.”

Espina, who earlier said he was out of the loop on the Mamasapano operation, and Purisima had apparently tried to help the embattled SAF troopers.

On Jan. 24, starting at 10 p.m. up to the early hours of Jan. 25, Napeñas was monitoring the movement of his SAF teams from Zamboanga City to Maguindanao.

He texted them: “Pls text us exact location regularly.”

At 4:35 a.m. on Jan. 25, he sent Purisima a message: “FOR CPNP FROM DSAF (Director, SAF) Sir good AM. FYI the operations against HVTs in Mamasapano, Mag shall be conducted by PNP SAF supported by Mag PPO (police provincial office), PRO (police regional office) ARMM, troops are underway, ME (main effort) is now on target while SEs (support efforts) are being deployed. Update will be reported.”

The main effort was the 38-member assault team led by Supt. Raymund Train, who lost nine men. The SEs were the 55th SAC composed of 36 men who were to serve as blocking force and the more than 300 other SAF troopers who were to serve as reinforcements and route security. Only one member of the blocking force survived.

Three minutes after informing Purisima that the SAF operation was underway, Napeñas texted Espina: “FOR OIC, PNP FROM DSAF Sir good AM. On January 25, 2015 at about 0230H, PNP SAF supported by Mag PPO, PRO ARMM shall be conducting LEO (law enforcement operation) against HVTs in Mamasapano, Mag. Troops are underway and development will be reported ASAP.”

He sent the same message to the Army’s Pangilinan at 5:09 a.m., and to Col. Gener del Rosario, who heads the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, at 5:25 a.m.

He sent a copy of the same text to Brig. Gen. Manolito Orense, Pangilinan’s deputy and concurrent co-chairman of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), a coordination body between the government and the MILF.

Based on Napeñas’ sworn statement taken by a PNP investigator, at about this time, the Train assault team had already killed Marwan. Usman had escaped.

News of Marwan’s death

An investigator asked Napeñas what time he received information that Marwan had been killed.

“Around 0415H 25 January 2015 when Supt. Train informed us by giving the message ‘Bingo,’ meaning Marwan was already taken down. Due to the heavy load of information and stressful situation then, I realized that I failed to immediately inform OIC, PNP earlier, including PDG Purisima,” Napeñas said.

He said he later relayed the information to both Purisima and Espina but did not give the time, and that Espina even congratulated him.

The STAR reported on Thursday that Purisima informed President Aquino as early as 5 a.m. of Marwan’s death.

At 6:02 a.m., Napeñas received a message from Orense asking him to coordinate the SAF’s withdrawal with the Army’s 601 Brigade commander, Col. Mel Feliciano, so they would not run afoul of the MILF.

At 6:07 a.m., Purisima texted the SAF chief to inform him that Espina had already been told of the operation. “Baka mabigla ka at magtanong (You might be surprised and ask question).”

Two minutes later, Napeñas received a text from Espina: “Tawagan mo na ngayon si rusty for details. Nakausap ko na (Call Rusty now for details. I already talked to him).”

Espina was referring to Westmincom’s Guerrero.

Apparently, Espina was already aware that SAF troops were engaging MILF and BIFF fighters.

At 6:10 a.m., Napeñas informed Purisima of his request from Espina for help in extricating the trapped commandos.

At 6:22 a.m., Napeñas sent copies of the text message he earlier sent to Purisima to Guerrero and Pangilinan, informing them about the firefight between the SAF teams and Muslim rebels as well as the general location of the area of encounter.

“Copy,” Pangilinan replied.

At 6:35 a.m., Mangaldan texted Napeñas to request for fire support from the Army. He said fighting had been going on since 5:20 a.m.

The SAF chief texted back: “Meron na utos sa kanila tutulong. Kausap ko CO 601Bde at utos na siya 45IB at tulong sila. Hold on kayo position and wait nyo ME pati 5SAB.”

At 7:26 a.m., Espina asked if the military had reinforced the beleaguered SAF teams. “Sir nag mobilize na AFP,” Napeñas responded.

“Copy apo. Hope we turn the tide with arrival of AFP reinforcement. Came with a cost with our casualties. It was an extremely high risk opn. Ngayon pa lang, congrats apo. Nalaing ka talaga!”

The two are apparently from Northern Luzon. Nalaing is Ilokano for brilliant or smart.

At 7:54 a.m., it was Purisima’s turn to inquire: “What’s the latest location sa withdrawal?”

Napeñas answered: “Sir location of SAF troops GC68006 65717 and 68234 65056. Nasa paligid ng first GC mga kalaban and tuloy pa rin heavy firefight. Na pin down tropa was first GC at meron mga casualties sila. Baka pwede hingi artillery support from AFP.”

He also informed Purisima that the Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade had started moving a reinforcement team.

Espina forwarded the text message to Guerrero with an appeal: “Rusty Bok pls provide (artillery support). Salamat!”

The next text from Purisima came at 11:22 a.m. He informed Napeñas that he had inquired from his sources where the embattled SAF teams could withdraw and was told that it could be toward the “marsh area,” but that they should watch out for some private armed groups.

“Copy Sir. Will advise all troops,” the SAF chief texted back.

Shortly before noon, Pangilinan informed Napeñas that the government-MILF CCCH had intervened to defuse the situation. At 12:06 p.m., Purisima asked for update from Napeñas.

The latter replied that the SAF men were still fighting it out with members of the MILF 105th Base Command.

Another message came from the suspended PNP chief 30 minutes later: “Confirm 105BC kalaban ng tropa, nadaanan dw perimeter defense, inaayos pa order ky cmdr daragas at cmdr manan.”