It’s the final word from President Aquino on this issue: he’s not apologizing for Mamasapano, but he’s taking “full responsibility” and pleading for understanding from the public.
The report submitted to foreigners first and then to the Senate by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front also looks like the final word from the group: the MILF isn’t apologizing either for killing 44 police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos.
There’s a mechanism in the peace agreement with the MILF that can be used to bring to justice those accountable for this slaughter. But considering the state of our justice system, no one expects any MILF member to pay for this atrocity.
So those seeking justice – plus critics of the administration – are instead going after someone who can be held accountable: the President and commander-in-chief.
Some legal experts have pointed out that an apology could be used against P-Noy by those who are preparing to slap him with lawsuits once he loses his presidential immunity.
All the statements from P-Noy haven’t assuaged the anger; the impression is that he has simply been (as they say in Pinoy blackjack) “forced to good.” You’ve heard the folks who want him out: they don’t think they will succeed, but they’re filing a slew of criminal and civil cases against him once he steps down, for his role in the commando raid gone tragically awry in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The original sin, according to these groups, has not been adequately addressed by President Aquino and his daang matuwid team: he ignored a suspension order of the Office of the Ombudsman and entrusted a highly sensitive operation to his favorite cop.
The MILF has its own original sin: the coddling of terrorists. The group’s report denied this with conflicting statements. One is that Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan was staying outside an MILF area but within an enclave of the group’s cousin the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Why then should the government “coordinate” with the MILF on an operation outside its area of control – unless the BIFF has always been part of the MILF?
A second explanation is that the MILF was unaware of the presence of Marwan and Filipino cohort Basit Usman near its enclave; the MILF blamed this on a failure of intelligence. If it was a failure, it looks like the kind that happens when you see only what you want to see, or look the other way. The two are high-profile terrorists known to the MILF, with millions of dollars in bounty.
An idea being floated is that the MILF could not have coddled terrorists because the SAF failed and the guy with a severed finger was not Marwan but a namesake. This is disputed by US officials, who say the finger matched the DNA of his brother who is detained in California on terrorism-related charges. We can’t know this 1,000 percent because neither the MILF nor the BIFF is telling us where the body of the guy who lost his finger is buried – something P-Noy has not demanded to know.
His demands have been met half-heartedly. The MILF has not turned over Usman or the SAF killers. It turned over a few SAF guns, without the high-precision bolts that are hard to copy in the MILF weapons factory. The BIFF said it got several of the SAF weapons. Return the guns? In your dreams.
Several weapons and SAF personal effects were turned over by civilians. It makes you wonder when they managed to get the items, when throughout the day, not even the SAF guarding the perimeter could wade into that open field to retrieve their mutilated comrades due to incessant blistering fire from .50-caliber Barrett rifles. When the smoke cleared, military extraction teams moved in but the weapons and personal effects were gone.
* * *
P-Noy’s first lie in this sorry affair was in connection with his favorite cop: the President said he entrusted Operation Plan Exodus to Director General Alan Purisima up until the ombudsman suspended the Philippine National Police chief. The suspension was in December 2014. Director Getulio Napeñas, sacked as SAF commander for getting the principal target of Exodus at the cost of 44 SAF lives (plus 18 Muslim rebels, several civilians, and the peace process), would later indicate that in fact P-Noy continued to let Purisima run the show all the way to execution day, Jan. 25.
With the initial euphoria following the report that Marwan had been neutralized, text exchanges showed P-Noy entrusting even the coordination for reinforcement of the trapped SAF to Purisima.
* * *
P-Noy and his team are saying you’re either with daang matuwid on peace, or you’re against it. You must be for peace – now, under his watch, and not in his successor’s time – or you’re for war. Questions about whether the MILF is taking the government and taxpayers for a ride are dismissed as distractions and swept under the rug.
This is not a black and white issue; only the defense industry wants war. War means people die, the nation becomes poorer in many ways, and our developing country can’t afford armed conflict. We should forge peace or start counting body bags, P-Noy warned. Well of course people know that. But you can’t move forward without occasionally stepping back and resolving crucial issues first, starting with the sincerity of the other party. And what exactly does “all-out war” mean? Is there a partial war? Will there be fighting from Batanes to Jolo?
The peace council being organized by the Palace – considering its proposed membership – looks like P-Noy’s way of amplifying his views on the BBL through the mouths of his known supporters. We still don’t know if those urged by Malacañang to join will accept the invitation to join an effort to pressure Congress to pass the BBL before P-Noy’s final State of the Nation Address in July.
P-Noy’s slumping ratings, combined with the loss of the pork barrel and Disbursement Acceleration Program, have eroded his persuasive power over Congress. Will the peace council save the BBL – and P-Noy’s ratings?
If he looks at the latest standing of the potential presidential contenders for 2016, he can’t miss the emergence of Davao’s Dirty Harry, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, in the Top 3. Duterte’s claim to fame is his tough stance on troublemakers. Sen. Grace Poe, who called Mamasapano a “massacre” and concluded that the SAF 44 were murdered and robbed by the MILF, slid a bit but held on to second place.
People want strong, credible leadership, without lies. People want peace, but not capitulation.