It’s time to move on – Speaker

MANILA, Philippines - The nation can now move on as President Aquino has satisfactorily explained his side on the Mamasapano incident for which he even begged for understanding, lawmakers led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

“It’s time to move on,” Belmonte said in reaction to Aquino’s pronouncements made before new police graduates at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) last Thursday.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles agreed that Aquino has already said his piece on the Mamasapano incident and that it would be senseless to “further squeeze blood from stone.”

He said Aquino’s speech during the PNPA graduation should be the last on the issue.

“I think that this should be the end of it. The President has spoken far too much about what he knows and about his limited involvement in the encounter in Mamasapano,” Nograles said.

“He has opened himself up to the Filipino people, and in the spirit of transparency and honesty has said all there is that he can really say about it. All his statements appear to be consistent,” he said.

Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas said the nation should stop wallowing in despair and disunity because of the incident.

“What we should do is learn from its lessons and use these lessons to strengthen our resolve to seek peace in Mindanao,” Treñas said.

Aquino’s popularity and trust ratings have plunged to record lows in the wake of the Mamasapano incident where 44 members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) died in clashes with Muslim guerrillas after carrying out a mission to arrest high value terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao more than two months ago.

No more apology

His congressmen-allies also said his critics should stop demanding that he apologize for the tragedy.

“Let us understand that the President is also a victim here, as he received inaccurate information on the policemen who were engaged in clashes with Muslim guerrillas,” Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento said.

He said it is very clear in the investigation reports of the Senate and the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (BOI) that Aquino “was fed wrong information and had no actual control on what was happening on the ground” when SAF commandos raided the hideout of three terrorists – Malaysians Zulkifli bir Hir, alias Marwan, and Amin Baco, alias Jihad, and their Filipino associate Abdul Basit Usman. SAF commandos killed Marwan, but Baco and Usman escaped.

“Some people are demanding accountability and others are even calling for the President’s resignation allegedly because of command responsibility, but even the BOI and the Senate reports cannot dispute the fact that the only involvement of the President in this incident was to give the order to execute the operation against Marwan, Baco and Usman,” Sarmiento said.

He said Aquino has sufficiently explained himself and should now move on and focus on running the country.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said he could not understand why some people still want the President to say sorry despite his taking responsibility for what happened in Mamasapano.

“He reiterated on Wednesday that as the nation’s leader, he was the one ultimately responsible for the SAF mission and its results. He asked for understanding for whatever lapses he made, as he is only human like the rest of us. He also reiterated that the incident would forever be on his conscience,” he said.

“What more do we want from him? Do we want him to say sorry and beg for forgiveness? I think his critics just want to humiliate him,” he said.

Evardone pointed out that resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima, former SAF chief Director Getulio Napeñas and military commanders in Mindanao should have relayed more accurate and detailed information about the status of the SAF mission and the men who carried it out.

Aquino has accused his closed friend Purisima of giving him inaccurate information when he sent him a text message at 8:17 a.m. that SAF troopers had already taken down Marwan and were in the process of extraction and getting infantry, mechanized and artillery support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

It turned out that the AFP in Maguindanao started mobilizing troop reinforcements and armored vehicles at 8:20 a.m., and blank artillery rounds were not fired until 6 p.m. “due to the peace process (with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front),” according to Napeñas.