Mamasapano probe: What did the President know?

Bea Cupin

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Mamasapano probe: What did the President know?
Senators also want to find out the full extent of the United States’ supposed involvement in the top-secret police operation that claimed the lives of 65, including 44 elite cops

MANILA, Philippines – When the Senate resumes its probe into “Oplan Exodus,” senators will zoom in on at least 2 important questions: What was President Benigno Aquino III’s full involvement and what role do foreign governments play in helping to secure the Philippines?

These unanswered questions have bugged the public since news of “Oplan Exodus” – a top-secret January 25 police operation that killed Zulkifli bin Hir (alias Marwan) – came to light. The operation also claimed the lives of 65 people, including 44 elite cops in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao.

In an interview with dzBB’s Nimfa Ravelo on Sunday, February 22, Senator Grace Poe said Aquino’s involvement will be made clearer to the public but only if key personalities in the operation – relieved PNP Special Action Force (SAF) commander Police Director Getulio Napeñas and resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima “tell the truth.”

 Senate hearings: Was there US involvement in SAF ops?

Poe specifically wants to know just how much information was given to the President on January 25, and how police and military officials reacted to the President’s orders.

The incident has been the subject of numerous probes and investigations from within the Philippine National Police (PNP) to both houses of Congress. Thus far, the Senate has held 3 public hearings on the incident and the same number of executive sessions – which have been closed to the public – with key personalities.

Both Napeñas and Purisima have spoken to senators during these closed door sessions. Two SAF operators – Superintendent Raymund Train of the 84th Seaborne Company and PO2 Christopher Lalan of the 55th Special Action Company – who survived the encounter have also testified in the private sessions. 

The scheduled hearing on Monday, February 23, would be the 4th public one.

Extent of info crucial

Poe, who chairs one of the Senate committees probing the incident, had previously said that releasing the closed door testimony of resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima would do Aquino good.

The President has been criticized for not explaining his full involvement in the operation, almost a month after the bloody operation.

Naniniwala ako na malaking bagay iyon. Malaking bagay sa kabuuan ng palaisipan tungkol sa mga nangyari. Alam mo maraming nagsasabi na kailangang iba ang pagkaka-handle nito. Talangang maraming pagkakamali, sasabihin ko na,” the senator said.

(Divulging their text messages will be a huge help, especially in explaining what really happened that day. A lot of people are saying the situation could have been handled differently. Early on, I can say that much is true.)

 Secret Senate sessions: Aiding laws or cover-ups?

Poe said the PNP’s chain of command, communication methods, and “other strategies” could have been done better but added it was important to know how much the President knew during that day.

Kasi diba hindi ka naman makakagawa ng desisyon kung hindi mo alam ang tunay na nangyayari o nagaganap o kung gumawa ka man ng desisyon at mali, iyan ay nakabase lamang sa kung talagang ibinigay sa iyo ang kabuuang nangyari o may tinago sa iyo,” she added.

(It’s difficult to make a decision when you don’t know what’s happening. Or if you do make a bad decision, that’s because it’s based on what you know, or the information you received at that time.)

The President has been widely criticized for his alleged involvement in the operation and for his perceived lack of empathy for the families of the slain SAF operators. (READ: ‘Aquino, Purisima, Napeñas liable for Mamasapano’)

Aquino’s close ties to Purisima has also been criticized. Purisima was serving a suspension order when the operation was executed. 

Poe refused to confirm or deny if information had been withheld from the President, but added that relieved PNP Special Action Force (SAF) commander Police Director Getulio Napeñas should not take sole responsibility for the lapses committed on January 25.

Who told the President?

In an extrication plan gone awry, 73 members of the elite PNP Special Action Force (SAF) were trapped in Mamasapano, a know bailiwick of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and their breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The operation was kept a secret from the PNP’s OIC, the Interior chief, and the military. Officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) insist it was too dangerous and difficult to send in help at the last minute since they were left unaware of the PNP’s plans. (READ: Mamasapano: What ifs and what could have beens)

It’s the bloodiest one-day operation in the PNP’s young history to date.

The operation has also put in danger a long-awaited peace deal between the government and has pit the AFP against the PNP over the former’s inability to send reinforcements on time.

The other questions Poe wants answered, based on close-door testimonies by both Napeñas and Purisima, include:

  • What were the President’s orders and were they given out in time? 
  • Why was the AFP unable to send in artillery support? 
  • Why did it take so long for white phosphorus (a non-lethal tracer projectile) to be deployed? 
  • Did nobody instruct the AFP to send in help early enough?

During the last public hearing on the incident, officials from the government’s security sector were silent when asked who had informed the President that trouble was brewing in Mamasapano. Aquino himself earlier said that he knew of the SAF’s success in killing Marwan the morning of January 25.

Aquino was with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, AFP chief General Gregorio Catapang, Jr., and Wesmincom chief Lt General Rustico Guerrero in Zamboanga City on January 25.

US involvement

Also invited to the Senate hearing on Monday is Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario, who has yet to confirm his attendance.

According to Poe, the DFA was invited to explain the “implications” of existing agreements between the Philippines and the United States in police operations such as “Oplan Exodus.”

Ngayon ang alam ko kasi sa VFA at EDCA, hindi ako expert dito, pero ‘yan ay military, hindi naman kasama ang PNP… pero merong isang mekanismo, yung parang anti-terrorism cooperation ng mga bansa, na kapag merong mga bansa ng terorismo ay talagang pwede naman tayo mag tulungan. Ang hindi ko nga maintindihan ay kung meron mang involvement ay bakit pa nagtatago, diba?” she said.

(I know there’s an existing Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. I’m not an expert here but that’s a military agreement, the PNP isn’t part of it. But there’s a mechanism, an anti-terrorism cooperation agreement between countries where if there’s a terrorist in one country, other countries can help. What I don’t understand is, if the US is really involved in the operation against Marwan, why it is being kept a secret?)

Napeñas has denied US involvement in “Oplan Exodus,” despite news reports alleging it was the US who provided intelligence reports on Marwan. Some reports, citing anonymous sources, also speculate the US was involved in the operation itself.

The US also allegedly funded the operation, according to news reports.

Speculation on the full extent of US involvement has been fueled by reports that a white airplane was seen circling Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano on the day of the operation.

Napeñas said they only asked for the US’s help for medical evacuation. The police general, however, refused to answer in public hearings why Marwan’s DNA sample was handed directly to the US’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instead of the Philippine’s own National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). 

Poe, however, refused to say whether the Monday public hearing would fully explain US involvement in the Mamasapano operation.

It remains unclear when the Senate will be wrapping up its probe into “Oplan Exodus.” The House of Representatives, meanwhile, is set to resume hearings once the PNP’s Board of Inquiry (BOI) completes its findings by the end of February.

The PNP BOI will be visiting Mamasapano this week to finish its investigation. – Rappler.com

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.