Palace: ‘Obvious motive’ in VP rant vs Ombudsman over Mamasapano

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said on Saturday, July 25, that Vice President Jejomar Binay’s move to question the Office of the Ombudsman’s findings on the deadly Mamasapano clash is driven by “obvious motives.”

In an interview on state-run dzRB, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte responded to Binay’s criticism of the Ombudsman’s decision to exonerate President Benigno Aquino III of any criminal liability over the Mamasapano incident.

She said it’s been observed that “as a general rule, the Vice President attacks the Office of the Ombudsman whenever he does not like the decision.”

Valte said that all the concerned bodies, as well as the Senate, had conducted separate investigations on the incident, the latest being the Ombudsman.

“Kung hindi nila gusto ay babatikusin nila. I think obvious naman po ‘yung motibo nila (If they do not like it, then they criticize it. I think it’s obvious what their motivations are),” Valte said, but did not elaborate.

Binay, the opposition standard-bearer in the 2016 elections, had mentioned the Mamasapano incident as among the failures of the administration he served until he resigned from his Cabinet posts in June. 

The Vice President had questioned the Ombudsman’s decision, saying that Aquino should not have been spared as the probes by the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry and the Senate showed that Aquino broke the police chain of command. (READ: Binay: I resigned to protest ‘crooked, failed’ gov’t)

While Aquino has been absolved, dismissed Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima and 10 other police officers are facing criminal and administrative charges. 

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano had also said he was “very surprised” that the Ombudsman only charged junior officers as well as Purisima with neglect of duty. Cayetano, who is said to be eyeing the vice presidency in 2016, urged the Senate to reopen its investigation. 

In response, Valte said that if Binay and Cayetano are dissatisfied with the Ombudsman’s decision, they are free to use any legal means to pursue their disagreement. – Mara Cepeda/Rappler.com