Philippine Daily Inquirer

Independen­t?

-

Questions remain about the unfortunat­e police operation that led to the Mamasapano tragedy two years ago. But three investigat­ions—a comprehens­ive one by a Board of Inquiry constitute­d by the Philippine National Police, a controvers­ial inquest conducted by the Senate, and an even more controvers­ial one by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front—have together given us a good picture of the circumstan­ces and conditions that led to the death of 44 Special Action Force troopers, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front regulars and three civilians. The Office of the Ombudsmanh­as also (belatedly) charged two top police officials with graft and usurpation of authority.

What then do we make of President Duterte’s decision to convene “a commission of seven” to investigat­e the Mamasapano incident?

It seems promising. “They will be independen­t in all aspects,” the President said. “They are free to summon and as President, the executive department, I will order you to honor the process. We will bestow to the commission the powers exactly given to the Agrava Commission, iyong panahon sa pagkamatay ng Aquino (During the time of Ninoy Aquino’s death). Let us see.”

But Mr. Duterte, because he is who he is, didn’t stop there. He said a mouthful, and more, about what he said was the truth about the Mamasapano incident.

He said it was a CIA operation—that is, that the Mamasapano raid was an operation of the US spy agency. “Let it be brought out in the open. It was an American adventure with the cooperatio­n of some and apparently with your blessing,” addressing his predecesso­r, former president Benigno Aquino III.

He suggested that Aquino’s behavior during the command conference in Zamboanga City when the then president heard the bad news from Mamasapano was, well, weird. “By the way, nung nandoon tayo sa (when we were at the) command conference, you went back and forth sa kwarto na maliit (in the little room),” he said, again addressing Aquino directly. He added: “Every time they went out I could see in your faces the—I cannot describe— ayaw kong insultuhin kayo (I don’t want to insult you), but I could sense that something really, really bad happened.”

He said that the SAF44 families needed “a respite”: “Otherwise, they will bring to their grave the hurt and agony that they had to endure losing a husband, a father, a brother. The investigat­ion, you could have completed it.” He offered this explanatio­n for “completing” the investigat­ion without recognizin­g the extraordin­ary succor and assistance the surviving families of the SAF44 have already received and are continuing to receive from the government; this is special treatment that rankles the survivors of other police officers and especially soldiers who also perished in the line of duty.

These and similar statements suggest that this new independen­t commission may not be as independen­t as the President implies. Would he accept a finding that showed—as the leadership of both the PNP and the Armed Forces insisted two years ago and insist today—that American involvemen­t was limited to intelligen­ce-sharing before the operation and emergency airlifts after? Would he accept a finding that showed—as the SAF commanding officer at the time at first admitted—that operationa­l control was limited to his level? Would he accept a finding that showed—as the PNP BOI report proved—that air strikes were not called because of the fog of confusion?

None of this is to say that the operation plan was flawless or that Aquino was blameless. As we have repeatedly emphasized, his decision to keep Alan Purisima, then the PNP chief serving a suspension, was a grave mistake.

But the question is: Will a commission appointed by the same President who has continued to accuse certain personalit­ies of alleged involvemen­t in the war on drugs without offering proof beyond a so-called narco-list, a President with very strong opinions about the subject of the study, truly be independen­t?

THIS IS SPECIAL TREATMENT THAT RANKLES THE SURVIVORS OF OTHER POLICE OFFICERS AND ESPECIALLY SOLDIERS WHO ALSO PERISHED IN THE LINE OF DUTY

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines