Damage suit by SAF 44 kin vs Purisima, Napeñas up for resolution
Retired Director Getulio Napeñas and retired Director General Alan Purisima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—A local court is set to resolve a P12-million damage claim filed against retired Director General Alan Purisima, retired Director Getulio Napeñas and three Army officials by the family of the late Senior Insp. Getnad Tabdi.
Tabdi was one of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos killed in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, during an operation to capture a suspected terrorist on Jan. 25, 2015.
The case, which was filed last year, was submitted for resolution on Nov. 5 in the sala of Judge Danilo Camacho of the Regional Trial Court Branch 62 here.
Tabdi’s widow, Lhea, and his parents Edna and Garcia blamed Purisima, a former Philippine National Police chief, for failing to ensure that the artillery support for the SAF members would arrive to protect them when they were cornered by armed militants in the course of arresting Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.
Marwan was killed in the operation.
Napeñas, a former SAF commander, was included in the complaint for negligence and for not following the chain of command in the conduct of the operation.
The Tabdi family also sued Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, former commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division; Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, area commander of the AFP Western Mindanao Command; and Col. Gener del Rosario, brigade commander of the AFP 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
“Had the artillery support been given early, the death of Tabdi could have been avoided,” the family said in its complaint.
The family asked for P11,368,500 in compensatory damages, representing the income Tabdi would have earned had he not been killed. Tabdi was receiving a monthly salary of P44,730.
The family also demanded P500,000 in moral damages, P200,000 as exemplary damages and payment of lawyer’s fee.
In their complaint, Tabdi’s family members said they lost not only a husband and a son but also a “material provider.”—KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
