Coloma: Pres. Aquino Recognizes Responsibility over Mamasapano Incident Since the Start

Malacañang on Tuesday reiterated that there is no need to question President Benigno Aquino III’s responsibility on the Mamasapano incident since he has acknowledged this from the start.

In an interview by Martin Andanar and Erwin Tulfo over Aksyon TV, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President, in his Feb. 6, 2015 televised speech, said he is ultimately responsible for the death of 44 members of the police’s Special Action Force (SAF).

”Kinilala na po niya iyong kaniyang responsibilidad labindalawang araw po makalipas na (ang insidente) nung siya ay nagtalumpati (He acknowledged his responsibilities 12 days after (the indicent) when he gave a speech,” he said.

Coloma said this statement by the President was not highlighted in news reports that came after his speech because the story that made headlines is his acceptance for the resignation of then-suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Alan Purisima.

Questions about the President’s accountability on the SAF operation dubbed Oplan Exodus, targeted to arrest wanted terrorists Malaysian Zulkifli Bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Filipino Ahmad Akmad Batabol Usman, alias Basit Usman, in Mamasapano, Maguindano on January 25, 2015 remain even after the police’s Board of Inquiry (BOI) came out with its findings.

The report said the President broke the chain of command rule but it accepted the fact that the President has the prerogative who to directly communicate with.

A day after the BOI report was made public last Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, in a statement, said the report “was thorough in scope and independent in nature” and that “the narration of facts was exhaustive and provides a sober basis for understanding what transpired.”

”In gathering the facts, the BOI should have allowed the facts to speak for themselves,” he said stressing the Palace stance regarding the issue on the chain of command.

Relatively, questions about the President’s responsibility as the government’s Chief Executive and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces have been raised on back of the issue that the PNP is a civilian group in nature.

Coloma said there should be no issue on this because these titles belong to a single person – – the president of the Republic.

”Hindi na kinakailangang maging masyado tayong istrikto doon sa interpretation na kailangan pa siyang tumulay sa bawat isa doon sa mga nasa ilalim ng kaniyan puwesto, which is a strictly hierarchical point of view. Dahil ang kaniyang mandato [ay] magpaganap, punong tagapagpaganap. (We don’t have to be very strict on the interpretation that he needs to pass through all those under his position, which is strictly a hierarchical point of view. Because his mandate is to implement, chief executive),” he said.

The Palace official also stressed that there is clearly no plan to hide Oplan Exodus from PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina.

He explained that during Aquino’s meeting with Purisima, who Coloma said was called to serve as a resource person since he has an actionable intelligence and is knowledgeable of the operations to arrest Marwan before his suspension, the Chief Executive directed him to inform Espina about the operation.

”Wala naman talagang intensyon na hindi rin pagsabihan si General Espina (There is really no intention not to inform General Espina),” he said.

Meanwhile, the BOI findings showed that Oplan Exodus lacked proper planning but Napeñas’ lawyer countered this by releasing a video of Marwan, which was taken as part of the SAF’s preparation for Oplan Exodus.

Coloma, in a Palace briefing, said Napeñas’ camp should submit a copy of the video to an appropriate government agency since the BOI has finished its investigation.

“Siguro ay hintayin na lamang nila kung ano pang administrative or similar processes ang magaganap hinggil sa pagkakaroon ng accountability sa kasong ito (Maybe we should just wait for other administrative or similar processes that would be made to determine accountability on this case),” he added. (PNA) RMA/JS/EDS