Duterte denies involvement in reckless imprudence case vs Aquino

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he was not behind moves to seek tougher charges against his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, over the bloody Mamasapano clash in 2015.

In what was the biggest crisis of Aquino’s presidency, a predawn mission to arrest two al Qaeda-linked militants triggered a bloody encounter between police Special Action Force commandos and gunmen in Mamasapano that led to the death of 44 cops, 18 Moro fighters and several civilians.

The Office of the Solicitor General on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to order the Office of the Ombudsman to charge Aquino, former national police chief Alan Purisima, and former SAF director Getulio Napeñas with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide.

Speaking to reporters in Davao City, Duterte denied any involvement in the filing of raps against Aquino despite previously saying he would revisit the deadly encounter.

He also said he would no longer form a commission tasked to probe the Mamasapano debacle.

"They are facing charges. What more do you want? We can only presume that they did it in the wrong way," Duterte said.

He also said he did not have any hand in separate impeachment complaints filed by his allies against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, both of whom were appointed by Aquino.

"President Aquino, sabi ko, 'It is not my style. It is not in my system.' Ikaw, si Sereno, si Ombudsman. Hindi galing sa akin," the president asserted.

Codenamed “Oplan Exodus,” the botched raid derailed the passage of a proposed Bangsamoro law, a product of rocky peace talks between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that was designed to end decades of conflict.

In November last year, the Office of the Ombudsman officially filed graft and usurpation of authority charges against Aquino.

The ombudsman earlier dismissed the reckless imprudence complaint that pro-Duterte group Volunteers against Crime and Corruption filed against Aquino. 

In his manifestation, Solicitor General Jose Calida argued that the “respondents' liability is grounded on the faulty planning and execution of Oplan Exodus.”