Independent probe into Mamasapano clash pushed
Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Aquilino Pimentel III and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV (from left) filed the truth commission bill in the Senate on Monday. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines–Lawmakers from the two houses of Congress on Monday called for the establishment of a truth commission for an independent investigation into a clash between government security forces and Moro guerrillas in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, in which 44 police commandos were killed on Jan. 25.
A bill that would establish the Mamasapano Truth Commission was filed in the Senate and was supported by members of the House of Representatives despite separate investigations by the Philippine National Police and by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and objections from Malacañang, which prefers probes by the regular government agencies.
The truth commission would have powers to call any government official, including President Aquino, to the investigation of the deadly clash that has thrown into doubt a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose fighters were involved in the gun battle.
There have been insinuations that Aquino gave the go-signal for “Oplan Wolverine,” the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) operation to take down Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and local terrorist Abdul Basit Usman, both of whom were on the US list of most-wanted terrorists.
Statements by Director Getulio Napeñas, the sacked commander of the SAF, and other ranking police officials that President Aquino had knowledge of the operation have put the police and military investigations under doubt, prompting calls for an independent probe by a truth commission.
Bicameral initiative
Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Aquilino Pimentel III and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV filed the truth commission bill in the Senate.
In the House, support for the bill came from Amin Rep. Sitti Turabin-Hataman, wife of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman; Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, Quezon City Rep. Jorge Banal, Dinagat Island Rep. Kaka Bag-ao and Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said he supported any process that would lead to the truth about the bloodbath in Mamasapano.
Drilon, however, said he did not think President Aquino was liable for the disaster on the principle of command responsibility.
He said that under the Rome statute, command responsibility would apply if the superior officer, knowing that his subordinates would commit a crime, failed to stop them and covered up for them.
“In this particular case, the SAF [commandos] were there to serve a warrant of arrest, not to commit a crime,” he said.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he believed Congress was the proper party to launch an impartial investigation into the Mamasapano clash.
“Congress has inherent powers that’s in our law [to create a truth commission]. We don’t need anything more than a simple resolution to call a meeting, and to empower the committees, and we have the process in place,” Belmonte told reporters.
He said his suggestion of a joint probe by the Senate and the House was for the sake of efficiency, so that invited police and military personnel would not be required to attend hearings twice.
Belmonte said a congressional truth commission would not be a “rubber stamp of anybody, not even the President.”
“It’s the people who are investigating, those who are in a position to enlighten us on what happened,” he said.
He said President Aquino may be invited to the hearings, but that’s up to the commission.
Palace uninterested
But Malacañang is uninterested in a truth commission, with presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda saying it is “unfair” and “sad” that the PNP board of inquiry probe is being prejudged as a whitewash.
Lacierda pointed out that it was the PNP that had lost personnel. “I think the truth for them is much, much more important and trumps all speculations that people have been saying,” he said.
He said that aside from the PNP board of inquiry, three other bodies were already looking into the Mamasapano clash—the House, the Senate and the international monitoring team of the peace process between the government and the MILF.
Lacierda said he vouched for the integrity of the four investigative bodies. “If you want to give justice to the fallen 44, any investigative body, whether it’s the board of inquiry, or the Senate and the House, you should really seek the truth. That’s the minimum requirement,” he said.
Senate, House probes
The public order committees of both the Senate and the House are opening inquiries into the Mamasapano clash, although the House panel has decided to wait for the results of the investigation by the PNP board of inquiry.
“Let them finish first,” Belmonte said. “Whatever it is, let them finish that because part of the work is in the field and so forth. Let them finish it and when they have finished, we cannot preclude any body in Congress wanting to look at it further.”
Belmonte said SAF officials had asked for time to attend the burials of the fallen commandos, most of which would be held in the provinces.
He said the public order committee would open the hearing on Tuesday next week.
Sen. Grace Poe, head of the Senate panel, also rescheduled the initial hearing of the inquiry from Wednesday this week to Monday and Tuesday next week to give PNP officials time to attend the funerals of the slain commandos.
Poe’s committee will call to the inquiry Director General Alan Purisima, the suspended PNP chief, who endorsed Oplan Wolverine to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa in 2011.
Purisima to testify
There have been reports that Purisima, despite his suspension over graft charges, directed the SAF operation from his house in Camp Crame, the PNP headquarters in Quezon City.
His lawyer, Kristoffer James Purisima, said Monday that Alan Purisima would go to the Senate inquiry to testify.
“He will definitely attend the Senate hearing, where he will testify on what he knows about the Mamasapano operation,” Kristoffer Purisima said.
Guingona said a truth commission was necessary even though several bodies were already conducting their own investigations because it would lead a “credible” and “independent” probe into a complicated situation.
“The operative word is ‘independent.’ Independent of the executive, independent of the legislative, independent of the judiciary. Accountable to whom? Accountable to the Filipino people,” Guingona said at a press briefing.
“We can only get justice if we can find the truth, and we can only find the truth through an independent, credible, truth commission,” he added.
Senator Aquino said the truth commission could take into account the output of all the other investigations into the bloodbath in coming out with its final report. The parallel probes could offer other perspectives, he said.
The Mamasapano incident has also imperiled peace talks with the MILF, which lost 18 fighters in the clash.
Commission’s powers
The proposed fact-finding body would have powers to invite, subpoena, cite in contempt resource persons and impose penalties.
It could even invite President Aquino, Guingona said, adding that he believed Aquino would support the proposed truth commission.
“I’m sure the President will accede because we have faith in his leadership,” he said.
The truth commission could also recommend that certain persons be placed under the government’s witness protection program to ensure the ends of justice would be served.
It could come up with its own recommendations, but would not supplant the roles of the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman, Pimentel said.
The proposed commission’s scope would include “anything and everything” about the incident in Mamasapano and it would strive to answer “the hard questions,” Guingona said.
It would have three members, to be appointed by the President. They must be of proven competence, probity, and unimpeachable integrity so that there would be no doubt about their findings.
Among the names floated for the body are former Sen. Wigberto Tañada and retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide.
As for questions about the members’ independence considering the President would appoint them, Guingona said there was no other appointing authority except the Chief Executive.
He also pointed out that the members of other independent commissions are appointed by the President.
There would be no time frame for the proposed truth commission to complete its job, but he said he believed it would fast-track the investigation.
The commission’s reports would be submitted to the Office of the President, with copies given to Congress.
It has a proposed budget of P50 million.
‘Clear answers’
The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay said the country needed “clear answers” to questions about the Mamasapano clash.
“The nation is grieving. We need clear answers to satisfy the seeming dearth of information from officials who are privy to the bloody encounter that took the lives of 44 gallant members of the PNP-SAF,” Binay’s spokersman Rico Quicho said in a text message.
Quicho said Binay “believes that swift action is needed now.”
MILF wants quick probe
Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator of the MILF, wants a quick investigation so as not to delay legislation of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which would establish a new, autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao, as provided for in the peace agreement signed by the group and the government in March last year.
“I think there is a need for the truth to come out and I would suggest that if possible all these investigations should be conducted quickly so that it will not derail the passage of the BBL in Congress,” Iqbal told reporters in the Senate.
“Just stick to the truth, find out the truth and eventually, as soon as the truth comes out, the MILF will be vindicated,” he said.
The MILF is also investigating the Mamasapano clash.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ fact-finding committee has forwarded its findings to the Chief of Staff, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.
The Army has come under criticism for not coming to the rescue of the SAF commandos.
Military findings
But the military investigators found that the Army had been ready to send in reinforcements, but the troops could not move forward because the SAF could not give the commandos’ location.
“The committee was able to establish that the Army had readily provided support by organizing a quick reaction force composed of troops from different infantry units, including armored assets of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which were deployed for the extraction of wounded SAF personnel,” Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, AFP-Public Affairs Office chief, said.
“Unknown to the public, the 6th Infantry Division began providing support an hour after being informed until the early morning hours of the following day, Jan. 26, when the elements of the SAF trapped inside Mamasapano were located and safely brought out of Barangay Tukanalipao,” he said.
“The AFP categorically states that everything that could be done was done under the circumstances with due consideration to avoid fratricide and collateral damage,” he said.
The PNP board of inquiry will get statements from 420 people in looking into the Mamasapano clash.
Director Benjamin Magalong of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, head of the board, said the investigation had gathered 286 statements so far.
The statements are mostly from SAF officers and personnel who took part in Oplan Wolverine.
Malacañang said it would not stop Purisima from going to the board of inquiry to testify.
In a television interview, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said: “As far as I know, there is no restriction or no one is barred there. What is important is to know the truth.”–With reports from Gil c. Cabacungan, Christine O. Avendaño, Julie M. Aurelio, Cynthia Balana and TJ Burgonio
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