MANILA, Philippines—“That’s hearsay,” an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said of news reports tagging President Benigno Aquino III and suspended police chief Director General Alan Purisima in the botched operation that killed 44 elite cops.
“That’s hearsay. We don’t know that yet. All those information are still allegations and innuendos,” deputy spokesperson Senior Superintendent Robert Po said in a hastily called press briefing on Wednesday.
Po refused to answer further questions on the allegations that the President ordered Purisima to lead the operation and send 392 members of the Special Action Force to arrest a high-value target in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
He asked the media to wait for the outcome of the investigation being made by the PNP board of inquiry.
A police general, who reportedly took part in the planning of the operation, revealed in a newspaper report that the covert mission was kept under wraps even from Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina.
The “sensitive mission” was meant to arrest Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan who has a $5-million bounty on his head and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman.
The general also claimed that Aquino assigned the mission to Purisima despite his suspension since he has all the intelligence information on Marwan.
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