I have it on good authority that President Noynoy knew beforehand the operation of the police commandos to arrest two terrorists inside a Moro rebel camp in Maguindanao province that resulted in a massacre.
In fact, he asked Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa to order the Philippine National Police to coordinate with the military in Maguindanao so there would be a joint operation.
Apparently, the coordination order by the President was not followed as troops from the Special Action Force (SAF) went to the lion’s den all by themselves.
The SAF troops went to the highly-fortified camp without reinforcements from the Army and air support from the Air Force.
I was told that Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who has supervision over the PNP, was not in on the top-secret operation.
That’s the reason Roxas has been making inane statements that the massacre was a “misencounter” between the guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the SAF troops.
He was like the person who was the last to know about the affairs in his own household, when in fact it was the talk of the town.
My unimpeachable source said that Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, PNP officer in charge, was not also informed about the operation.
When Roxas angrily confronted Espina after news of the massacre came out, Espina said he, too, didn’t know anything about it, my source added.
The President, as commander in chief of both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP, should take full responsibility for the massacre of the 44 police commandos.
He should blame nobody but himself for the very humiliating fiasco, the second-worst suffered by government forces in the war in Mindanao.
(According to the Inquirer’s research staff, the worst defeat government troops suffered was on Feb. 12, 1981, when 119 officers and men of the Army’s 31st Infantry Battalion who were just deployed to Pata Island off Jolo were shot and hacked to death by residents.)
The President ordered the relief of the SAF commander, Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas, because of the incident.
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If the President doesn’t order the SAF and the AFP to retaliate and cite the ongoing peace process as the reason for holding back, he will lose the respect of the AFP and PNP rank and file, and officer corps.
Already, military troops and police commandos are waiting for the President’s order to attack the camps of the MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
The President is walking a tightrope, a precarious balance between appeasing angry troops and displeasing the Moro rebels with whom he wants a peace accord signed.
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Elected officials who want to gain the respect of the educated sector should dress to fit their lofty position.
When one dresses properly he shows respect for his hosts who invited him to their gathering.
I was appalled and so were many others, I’m sure, to see Makati Mayor Junjun Binay on TV speaking at a Rotary Club of Makati event wearing a T-shirt.
What cheek!
The young Binay probably thought his audience, composed of big businessmen and professionals, were his subalterns so why should he dress up?
Talk about proper breeding!