Aquino asks for understanding, but won’t apologize for deadly police mission

Promising to speak for the last time on the Mamasapano clash that left 44 police commandos dead, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday asked graduates of the police academy for their “deep understanding” and reiterated that he feels responsible for the deaths of the elite cops. “Regardless of my anger for the disregard for the orders I gave, regardless of my regret for trusting people who concealed the truth from me, I can never erase the fact: 44 members of our police force are dead. And this happened under my term. Let me stress it: I will bear this basic truth with me to my grave,” he said. Still, the apology that some quarters had been waiting for him was noforthcoming. A day before the President’s speech, governance expert Antonio La Viña suggested in a Rappler Thought Leaders piece what Aquino should and should not say in his speech: “In my view, an apology is not essential for the speech. One thing I do not want to hear from the President is his contesting the findings of the Board of Inquiry and Senate reports.”

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