Palace brushes off Bello's withdrawal of support for PNoy
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Wednesday brushed aside the decision of one of its closest allies in Congress to withdraw support for President Benigno Aquino III over the Mamasapano incident.
Akbayan Party-list Rep. Walden Bello said in a statement this morning that he can no longer support Aquino since he is "washing his hands of responsibility" of the January 25 Mamasapano mission that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos dead.
"Rep. Bello's decision to withdraw is his own. My understanding is that Akbayan issued a statement that Rep. Bello's statements are not that of Akbayan," Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a text message to Palace reporters.
In a Facebook post, Bello accused Aquino of engaging in a "brazen cover-up" of his responsibility for the deadly Mamasapano operation by pinning all the blame on relieved SAF commander Getulio Napeñas.
READ: Akbayan solon cuts ties with admin, calls PNoy 'man without honor'
Bello said Aquino has shrunk from a "credible president" to a "small-minded bureaucrat trying desperately to erase his fingerprints from a failed project" to save himself.
"This man knows nothing of command responsibility or of honor," Bello said.
Responding to a evangelical leader during a prayer gathering at the Palace on Monday, Aquino gave his most detailed account of the circumstances that transpired from the fatal police operation.
Aquino claimed that Napeñas fooled him into thinking that the Mamasapano operation would be carried out efficiently based on the detailed plan presented to him.
READ: Aquino: I was fooled on Mamasapano mission
The president also said Napeñas could have aborted the operation when there were deviations in the plan.
Malacañang defended Aquino on Tuesday, saying he was not passing the blame to Napeñas and that he was only explaining the lapses in the Mamasapano operation.
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. also said Aquino accepted responsibility of the Mamasapano tragedy during a televised address to the nation on February.
Coloma added, however, that responsibility is different from culpability or having "willful intent" to commit an unlawful act.
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