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Social Media

Netizens sympathize with PNP’s tearful Espina

Rappler Social Media Team

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"Gen. Espina" – PNP Officer-in-Charge Leonardo Espina – trends after he cries over the brutal death of SAF commandos during a congressional hearing

MANILA, Philippines – Family, friends, and colleagues have shed tears over the brutal death of the 44 young commandos of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force. 

On Wednesday, February 11, their boss, PNP Officer-in-Charge Police Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, did it publicly. His display of deep sorrow over the Mamasapano clash on the 3rd straight day of legislative hearings did not escape social media users. “Gen. Espina” trended.

During the hearing at the House of Representatives – coming from two hearing days at the Senate – Espina strongly condemned what he called was the “overkill” committed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front against “my men.”

Post by Rappler.

“Granting that my men failed to coordinate with the other party to enter their area for the lawful arrest for these terrorists, was it enough reason for the overkill of my men?”

“We are all for peace but we condemn in the strongest terms the treatment they did to my men,” Espina said.

He then continued to question the “overkill” of his men, countering the MILF’s claim that they attacked the SAF troopers as an act of “self-defense”.

It was at this point that he became emotional before the House panel, and netizens took to Twitter to symphatize with him.

The father of SAF

“I am the father of this country and 44 of my children were killed. They can no longer be brought back. This tragedy happened during my term, and I will carry this to the end of my days,” President Benigno Aquino III said during a national address on February 6.

But it was Espina whom netizens tagged as “the real father” of the SAF. 



ESPINA TRENDING. Screenshot from Twitter, taken February 11, 2015 at 3:30 pm in Manila.




Furthermore, a 6-minute Facebook video claiming to show footage of the Mamasapano clash has been making its rounds online.

VIRAL VIDEO. Screenshot of a Facebook video that claims it was taken during the Mamasapano clash.
In the beginning of the said video, a severely injured man – positively identified by the SAF batallion commander – was shot point-blank to his death. 
The video has angered netizens. Malacañang Palace called the person who uploaded the video “heartless.”
How is all of this making you feel? Tell us using the Mood Meter. – Rappler.com

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