Roque: Duterte takes responsibility for Samar misencounter to end blame game

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the finger-pointing regarding the Samar misencounter will end after President Rodrigo Duterte took full responsibility for the incident.

“It’s to end the blame game,” Roque said in a text message to reporters on Sunday, after being sought for comments on the president’s previous statement.

According to Roque, relatives of the dead policemen are looking for somebody to be held accountable; hence, the president’s remarks.

“Kasi ilan sa mga kaanak ng mga nasawi are still asking for justice. Sabi nila dapat merong managot (The victims’ relatives are asking for justice. They want someone to be held accountable for the incident),” he added.

A total of six police officers died in the incident while nine more were wounded, after a 20-minute firefight between the members of the 805th Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion of the Philippine National Police and ‘armed men’ of the 87th Infantry Battalion of Philippine Army.

On Friday, President Duterte said he is accountable for the incident.  “I would like to tell you that the ultimate blame, fault is on me,” he said in a speech in Leyte last Friday.

READ: 6 policemen killed, 9 more hurt in Samar misencounter

President Duterte had previously lamented the situation, saying that nobody wanted it to happen.

READ: Duterte on Samar misencounter: ‘Nobody wants it’

“Spoken like a true leader, the buck stops with him,” Roque said, before giving an assurance that the police and the army would work together in the future to avoid such untoward events.

“It’s an unfortunate incident which should not happen again. Closer coordination can be expected between the AFP and the PNP in future ground combat operations,” he added. /ee