‘No reason to portray Noy as victim of Mamasapano clash’

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that he could not understand how President Aquino could be depicted as a victim by his allies in the encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that led to the deaths of Special Action Force (SAF) police last January.

For refusing to apologize for his role in the operation of the SAF that resulted in the killing of 44 commandos and a Malaysian terrorist, critics of the President and the public continued their demand for accountability from him in spite of his repeated appeals for understanding.

Liberal Party allies of the President appealed for an end to the efforts to villify Aquino for the Mamasapano clash, saying that he was also a victim.

For Marcos, it made no sense to portray the President as a victim when he lost nothing from the bloody clash between the SAF and Muslim rebels.

The SAF mission dubbed as Operation Plan Exodus was launched on Jan. 25 to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and his Filipino cohort Basit Usman hiding in Mamasampano.

Marwan was killed but Usman escaped. The police commandos later encountered members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups that resulted in the killing of the policemen, as well 18 rebels and five civilians.

“What loss did he suffer? How was his person damaged? If there is any loss or damage, it was his doing,” Marcos said.

He said it was Aquino’s interference with the Philippine National Police (PNP) chain of command that set the SAF on the road to disaster. “This thinking is what has caused the people to reject all his conflicting excuses,” Marcos added.

In his speech last Thursday, the President reiterated that he takes full responsibility for the operation in Mamasapano.

The President said that he is only human and commits mistakes just like anyone else and asked for understanding from the people.

Since the Mamasapano clash, the President has suffered a decline in approval ratings, the latest of which had him at 38 percent in March from a high of 59 percent in November.

Mamasapano intelligence officer

A veteran police intelligence officer who provided the intelligence packet that led to the killing of Malaysian terrorist Marwan has been recommended for promotion to chief superintendent.

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) recommended the promotion of Senior Supt. Fernando Mendez Jr., acting director of the PNP Intelligence Group, together with two chief superintendents and nine other senior superintendents to the next higher rank.

Mendez was identified in the separate investigations conducted by the PNP Board of Inquiry, the Senate and House probes as the police officer responsible for providing the intelligence information on Marwan’s location to then suspended and now resigned PNP chief Alan Purisima and former SAF director Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas.

The US government offered a $5- million reward for the capture of Marwan while Usman has a $2-million bounty.

Mendez was reportedly with Purisima and Napeñas when they briefed Aquino regarding Oplan Exodus last Jan. 9 at the President’s official residence at Bahay Pangarap in Malacañang. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Paolo Romero