President Aquino broke chain of command—ex-Sen. Lacson

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III broke the chain of command when he talked to the head of the police Special Action Force (SAF) and the suspended police chief about the Mamasapano operation and did not inform the officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said former senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday.

Lacson, a former PNP chief before being elected to the Senate, said the chain of command did not only go from bottom to top but also from top to bottom.

That meant, the President as commander-in-chief of all armed and police forces in the country should have told PNP OIC Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina about the plan to capture or kill Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan.

Relieved SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas told the Senate on Monday that Mr. Aquino was given an update about the mission dubbed Oplan Exodus on January 9, 2015, or two weeks before it was carried out on January 25.

According to Napeñas, Director General Alan Purisima was with him in the meeting with the President.

Purisima was then the chief of the PNP but was under suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman since December over an allegedly onerous courier service contract. On Feb. 6, President Aquino announced that he had accepted the resignation of Purisima as PNP chief.

During that mission, SAF commandos killed Marwan but 44 of their comrades were also slain in ensuing gun battles with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups.

“Kung ikaw ay commander-in-chief o kaya ay chief PNP, dapat obserbahan mo rin at respetuhin yung chain of command,” (If you are the commander-in-chief or the PNP chief, you should also respect the chain of command) Lacson said over ABS-CBN’s morning show Umagang Kay Ganda.

He explained, “Nung nagkaroon ng meeting sa Malacañang noong January 9 at ang nandoon lang ay yung suspendidong PNP chief at wala si General Espina, may disrespect na yan ng command ng PNP. Kailangang nandun si General Espina.” (When they had the meeting in Malacañang on January 9 and only the suspended PNP chief was there and General Espina was not, there was already disrespect for the PNP command. Espina should have been there.)

At the very least, Lacson said either the President or Napeñas should have informed Espina about the meeting or invited him to join them.

“Si General Napenas, may pagkakamali kasi hindi niya kinilala yung chain of command na kung saan link niya immediately si Espina,” (The fault of General Napeñas was he did not recognize the chain of command where Espina was his immediate link) he said.

“On the part of the President, being the commander in chief, dapat sinabihan niya rin or isinama niya sa meeting (si Espina) maski na kinukunsulta niya si General Alan,” (he should have told Espina or brought him to the meeting even if was consulting General Alan) added Lacson.

It could not be denied, he said, that there was “omission” on the part of the President.

“Hindi na-observe yung principle, yung chain of command,” Lacson said. “Hindi pwedeng sa isang platoon dalawa yung platoon leader. In this case, hindi pwedeng dalawa ang PNP chief. Kailangan isa lamang.” (The chain of command was not observed. A platoon cannot have two leaders. In this case, we cannot have two PNP chiefs. There should only be one.)

“Yung pagkukunsulta kay General Purisima, wala akong nakikitang pagkakamali dun. Magkukunsulta ka in an unofficial capacity hindi yung eetsapwera mo yung appointed na officer in charge ng PNP,” (I don’t see anything wrong with consulting General Purisima. You can consult in an unofficial capacity but you cannot ignore the appointed officer in charge of the PNP) he stressed.

Lacson though recognized that  the commander in chief may use “his prerogative to exercise the ‘need to know basis’ discretion if in his judgment, he feels that it is imperative to do so.”

“But that doesn’t remove the fact that the chain of command was  nevertheless broken by both the President and Napeñas,”  he  said in a separate text message.

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