Entire police force in crisis—Espina

Director Getulio Napeñas, relieved Special Action Force (SAF) chief, refutes the claim of AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. that the SAF did not coordinate with the military when it went to Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, to serve arrest warrants on two terrorists.  LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines—The entire Philippine National Police is “in crisis” with morale in the ranks low in the aftermath of a botched antiterror operation in Maguindanao province that cost the lives of 44 police commandos more than a week ago.

That was clear in the silence with which the PNP Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) responded to President Aquino’s offer of talks with the grieving officers at their headquarters early on Sunday.

After condoling with the families of the slain commandos, Aquino met with an SAF company at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig and asked the officers to speak up.

But as a video released by Radio-TV Malacañang (RTVM) showed, the President ended up doing a monologue, talking for more than seven minutes but getting no response from the policemen.

Most of the troopers, standing at attention, either looked straight ahead or looked down.

Malacañang, however, sought to “clear up the impression” of the silent treatment that Aquino received from the SAF.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Wednesday that he was at the meeting, which he described as “orderly.”

Coloma said the President would continue to listen to the SAF despite the troopers’ silence.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t impute different meanings [to the SAF reactions] because I saw that the PNP-SAF listened to [the President] intently and they did not show any negative reaction to the President at that moment,” he said.

Demoralization

But Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, the PNP officer in charge, admitted the demoralization at a hearing on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Espina said he addressed the policemen on Monday to boost their flagging spirits after the fighting between SAF commandos and guerrillas from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao, that dealt government security forces their biggest single-day combat loss in recent memory.

Of the 392 SAF commandos thrown into the operation to take down international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and local terrorist Basit Usman, 44 were killed in a 12-hour gun battle with the Moro guerrillas.

The SAF commandos killed Marwan in the operation but encountered Moro guerrillas as they withdrew. Usman, for whose capture the United States is offering a reward of $3 million, escaped.

“I as your leader now will see to it that we will find justice for our men, whatever form it will be,” Espina recalled telling the policemen during the flag-raising ceremony at Camp Crame, the PNP national headquarters in Quezon City on Monday morning.

The deaths of the 44 police commandos has sparked widespread public anger and thrown in doubt the peace agreement signed by the government and the MILF in March last year.

The PNP has formed a board of inquiry to investigate the incident. A report is expected in a month’s time.

Other investigations have been launched or planned, including a probe by a proposed truth commission that requires legislation.

Acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas: Demoralization. LYN RILLON

‘Crisis in the PNP’

Espina said he owed it to the 150,000-strong police force to be honest.

“You know in order to set everything right, you need to level with everybody. Say the truth, so that you’ll be able to define the problem properly,” he told lawmakers and journalists, who were allowed briefly into the executive session by the 75-member committee conducting hearings on the proposed BBL.

“I told them we have just lost 44 people. This is really—let’s admit it—it’s a crisis in the PNP,” Espina said.

He said he also told the policemen not to allow their grief and anger over the incident to take their attention off their duty.

“We cannot stop working because this may be taken advantage of by the enemies of the state, who may, for example, attack our detachments. So I said let’s focus on our jobs,” Espina said.

Neither Espina nor Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who has supervision over the PNP, was informed about “Oplan Wolverine,” the SAF operation to get Marwan and Usman.

Espina told the House committee that he learned about what happened from the sacked SAF commander, Director Getulio Napeñas Jr., who sent him a text message “after the fact,” that is, when the operation was already finished and the police commandos were already under fire from Moro guerrillas.

There was also no coordination with the military in the area, he said.

Purisima’s role

The SAF reportedly took directions from Director General Alan Purisima, the suspended PNP chief.

President Aquino, in a televised address to the nation last week, admitted that Purisima had been advising him on the operation.

Asked about talk of “two chains of command in the PNP,” Espina said: “I’m not aware of that. As far as I’m concerned, I’m the OIC, as you know with only limited powers.”

He said he did not think the leadership issue contributed to the lack of coordination, but added that he felt it would have helped if he had at least been told about the operation quietly.

“If somebody whispered something to me, then I could have had the opportunity to review [the plan]. I’ve seen this for months and years. I always ask for tactics. This is a military area, and I know that peace talks are [going on],” Espina said.

Espina raised a number of questions about the incident, including what he called “overkill” by the MILF.

“We observe and respect the peace talks. If they failed to coordinate, there was still overkill. There was no intent [to allow] anybody to leave [the area alive],” he said.

Espina said the SAF commandos were “finished off” after the encounter. “They were stripped of their weapons, and their cell phones were taken, and [the MILF] called their wives to say not to call anymore because their husbands were dead,” he said.

He said it seemed the MILF had no intention of admitting its mistake.

“Even assuming they did not coordinate, they were chasing criminals … These are just some questions I’d like to ask,” he said.

Asked if he agreed to proposals to defer talks on the proposed BBL, Espina said the PNP supported the peace talks “because first and foremost we are peacekeepers.”

“In conflict, we almost mediate so there is order. That’s our mission. So whatever it takes for peace to be achieved, we will do it,” he said.

Espina said his only concern was “the implementation by the other party,” referring to the MILF. “They should show sincerity,” he said.

He implored the MILF to return the weapons and equipment taken from the slain SAF commandos. He said he received information that the entire cache was already being sold for P4 million.

“I ask the MILF [to return the weapons]. That’s not yours. That’s ours. You killed our men’ don’t add to that,” he said.

Gratitude, praise

In Malacañang, Coloma said Aquino, in his meeting with the SAF troopers, thanked them for their service to the country and praised the heroism of the 44 officers who gave their lives and those who took part in the mission and were wounded.

Coloma said the President asked the troopers if they had something to tell him.

“And because no one spoke up, [the President] told them that he was ready to listen to them and they could course their message through their superior officers. They can write to him. They can also set an appointment with him,” Coloma said.

The next day, Roxas had a follow-up dialogue with the SAF, Coloma said.

He said the President’s dialogue with the SAF was “continuing,” to find out how the troopers feel after the Mamasapano incident.

And it is not only for the PNP, Coloma said. The President’s ear is also ready for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“The President knows that as the Commander in Chief and father of the nation, he has to know what [soldiers and police officers think and feel], the public servants and the people,” Coloma said.

Command responsibility

An ally of the President in the House, however, said Aquino should take command responsibility for what happened in Mamasapano to regain his credibility.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said an “explicit acceptance” of command responsibility would be the first step for Aquino in regaining his credibility.

Although Aquino has admitted knowledge of the SAF operation, he did not say whether it was he who gave the order to launch it.

Bello said that after owning up to it, the President should appoint an impartial truth commission to take the place of the eight bodies that have announced separate investigations into the Mamasapano incident.

Bello also reiterated his advice to the President to stop listening to his advisers who had failed to take the pulse of the nation.

“It’s frustrating, the way he is totally loyal to incompetent and questionable subordinates and runs his Cabinet like a [University of the Philippines] frat,” Bello said in a text message.

Shut up

“The President must undertake a deep reform of his style of governance and listen to critical voices. There is no alternative but this,” he said.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said leaders of the police and the military should keep their mouths shut and reserve their statements about the police operation for official investigations.

“Don’t start throwing accusations at each other in public,” he said.

Drilon also said the verbal tussle between the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was exacerbating an already tense situation.

Two versions

AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Wednesday said the military was prepared to help SAF members who were sent to arrest a Malaysian terror suspect in Mamasapano, but the coordination came too late.

Following Catapang’s press conference, Napeñas, who was relieved as SAF chief following the debacle, held a press briefing at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame to refute the AFP chief of staff’s claims.

Napeñas said the police commandos had coordinated properly with the military and disputed statements that the military did not know the location of the SAF forces.

Espina also said he learned of the Mamasapano incident when it was already underway.

“Given their positions in government, the tense situation is not helped any by such exchanges between these officials,” said Drilon.

All’s well

Malacañang played down the seeming tension between the military and the police over the Mamasapano debacle, saying that all is well despite their different versions of events.

“There is no gap or fighting taking place between the AFP and the PNP. They are united under one flag and republic and they are performing their duties, faithful to the republic,” said Coloma.

Coloma said the military and police were both sending across a singular important message: that they are public servants and they are committed to securing the country and defending our communities and state.–With a report from Leila Salaverria

Originally posted: 10:16 PM | Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

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