House panel to invite Purisima to Mamasapano probe

Suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima. AP file photo

MANILA, Philippines–The House public order and safety committee on Tuesday voted to invite suspended Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima to its probe on the Mamasapano incident that killed 44 elite cops in an attack by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The panel voted to second the motion of Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio, who said Purisima should explain his side on reports that he allegedly called the shots in the botched operation.

“Purisima should set the record straight whether or not he played a key role. This is so that the public won’t view the committee as evading the important question,” Tinio told the committee.

“We’d like to hear first the story who is in charge of the Special Action Force,” added Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, who chairs the committee.

The panel also voted to invite PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor in the attack; Western Mindanao Commander Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, the intelligence officer of the Special Action Force, among others.

The body set the hearing on Feb. 11.

Among those invited as resource speakers are Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles, Armed Forces chief of staff  Lieutenant General Pio Catapang, Philippine National Police officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, and sacked Special Action Force commander Getulio Napeñas.

Newspaper reports came out that President Aquino authorized suspended police chief Purisima to run the operation of arresting two international terrorists and bomb makers who were said to be hiding in Mamasapano, a well-known MILF area.

The report said Aquino authorized Purisima to run the “covert operation” because he had the intelligence on Malaysian terrorist Zulkipli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino Basit Usman, both bomb experts linked to the Jemaah Islamiya.

But the operation was said to be carried out without the knowledge of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina, reports said. The elite cops were also said to be reporting to Purisima.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Purisima kept the operation secret from Roxas because of an animosity between the two trusted friends of President Aquino. The Inquirer’s source said Purisima kept the operation secret to keep the accolade to himself if it becomes successful.

In a televised speech, President Aquino admitted knowing about the operation but said Purisima called the shots in the operation only until his suspension over an allegedly irregular courier deal.

The attack happened on January 25 when the police Special Action Force (SAF) went to an MILF area to serve arrest warrants on bomb experts linked to international terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. They were fired at by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and armed elements of the MILF 105th Base Command.

Authorities had downplayed the attack by the MILF as a misencounter and a result of lack of coordination. MILF lead peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal meanwhile said the attack by the MILF was only an act of self-defense as the police commandos arrived without warning in the MILF territory.

The Philippine Army failed to send reinforcement during the attack as it was supposedly kept in the dark about the covert operation. Sacked SAF commander Getulio Napeñas has admitted accountability in the botched operation.

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