‘They wouldn’t have died if you didn’t interfere’
Resigned PNP chief takes responsibility for Mamasapano encounter
PNP-SAF Commander Getulio Napeñas didn’t escape Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s tirade when the senator calls him ‘a failure’
HAD resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima not meddled in the operation, the 44 elite police commandos would not have been killed during the firefight with the Moro rebels on Jan. 25, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said yesterday.
“You were under preventive suspension. Why did you interfere? Imagine, 44 persons died and you were involved there. If you did not participate, maybe, they were still alive,” said Santiago on the Senate hearing on the bloody incident in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Santiago said Purisima should have not been performing his duties as police chief since he was suspended in December last year for the alleged anomalous contract for the delivery of licenses to gun owners.
Citing a Supreme Court decision, Santiago said: “In all cases of preventive suspension, the suspended official is barred from performing the functions of his office.”
‘Overstepped your limits’
“I humbly call your attention. In jurisprudence, you overstepped your limits. You were under preventive suspension (yet you continue to participate in the preparation for a law enforcement activity),” said Santiago.
Purisima said that it was relieved PNPSAF commander Getulio Napeñas who ordered the troops to raid the area where Marwan was hiding.
Santiago then blasted Purisima for passing the liability to the SAF commander.
“You were all pointing fingers to the SAF commander. Common sense dictates that he was not the highest ranking official. And who was higher than him? You, the PNP chief, but you were preventively suspended and your acting PNP chief was not informed. So who knew? You, President (Benigno III) Aquino, and Napeñas,” Santiago said.
After he got a dressing down, Purisima took the blame for the incident.
“I am accountable for the operation that’s why I resigned,” said Purisima, who provided to the SAF intelligence information about Marwan’s location.
Santiago said the operation to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman in Mamasapano was a “failure” due to lack of coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Marwan was killed in the raid, as confirmed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while Usman escaped.
“You see, that (because) there’s no coordination (between the police and the military), it was a failure. (And worst), you still continued (the operation),” Santiago said.
Santiago said the late arrival of the elite commandos in Mamasapano and lack of equipment and ammunition contributed to the unfortunate incident.
“It was too late. Everybody was already awake (when the PNP-SAF arrived). The MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) heard the firing so they ran over the area and what happened was, they (slain elite cops) were trapped,” Santiago said.
The senator also asked Napeñas why he did not inform the military about the operation early.
“The very reason is to avoid the operation, would be again, be compromised because of the previous operations that we did this in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the operation that we have aborted,” Napeñas said.
Napeñas was referring to the “Oplan Wolverine,” which was aborted on April 25, 2014 because of the military’s withdrawal of the mechanized brigade units to support the operation.
“You failed before. Now that it was a police mission, you failed again,” Santiago said.