Philippine President Benigno Aquino III AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–It was a long, tiring day in Zamboanga City on Jan. 25. And when President Aquino was briefed on the Mamasapano debacle in the early evening, he even wanted to fly to Cotabato City that night.
The President arrived at Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB) at 9:45 a.m. Almost immediately, a briefing on the security situation in the city commenced.
There had been a foiled attempt by al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits to break out of jail a week before. And an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated on Jan. 23, killing two and injuring dozens.
In September 2013, members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), disgruntled over a government peace agreement with its rival Moro secessionist group, tried to take over Zamboanga City, triggering the first urban combat in the country’s recent history.
The President’s day on Jan. 25 ended up being divided into three activities, with the third unplanned and apparently one that none of Aquino’s top security officials expected.
Aquino’s original schedule was to have a briefing on the security situation in Zamboanga City in the morning to be followed by visits to the site blast in Barangay (village) Guiwan, the wounded who were in five different hospitals, the funeral parlor where two fatalities were taken, and the city jail where the Abu Sayyaf bandits were detained. The visits took two hours.
The President’s trip on Jan. 25, the birthday of his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, was only for Zamboanga City, according to his official schedule.
‘Beng Beng’ lunch
He was originally scheduled to return to Manila shortly after lunch but the Zamboanga security briefing took nearly four hours.
The aides and everyone else who were not part of the President’s briefing team had missed lunch. Most of them made do with biscuits, a local chocolate called “Beng Beng,” and bottled water.
A source who was present at both morning and afternoon briefings told the Inquirer that the first briefing concentrated on the Zamboanga security situation while the second briefing held at 5 p.m. was on the Mamasapano incident.
“Honestly, the President got mad during the first briefing because the BJMP (Bureau of Jail and Management and Penology) was not able to answer his question why the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group) was able to smuggle guns inside the city jail,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.
Aquino was also annoyed at some unfinished “DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) projects,” referring to the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the city after several villages were obliterated by the three-week fighting and displaced thousands of families.
The first briefing included Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, National Housing Authority Chair Chito Cruz, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., Western Mindanao Command head Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, police officials, military intelligence officials and Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco.
At some point during the meeting, a whiteboard was needed to give the President a clear breakdown on what had been accomplished on the Zamboanga rehabilitation.
The Inquirer saw the group move from the first meeting place to an adjacent room where the whiteboard was placed.
The group spent nearly another hour in the second room and finally, the time came to go to the blast site and the hospitals.
Pensive mood
Everyone rushed to their designated vehicles but had to wait another half an hour before the President emerged from EAAB building where the security briefing was held.
It was unclear what held the President inside for another 30 minutes.
At the site blast, President Aquino appeared focused on the damage inflicted by the IED. He was also seen asking questions.
The Cabinet members, like Gazmin and Roxas, rode a coaster that followed the President’s white SUV in the convoy.
The President’s men were seen going up and down the coaster, huffing and puffing, and running, as they followed Aquino to the hospitals, the wake, and the jail facility.
At 5 p.m., the group arrived at EAAB. It was there that news broke that 35 SAF commandos were reported dead in an encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.
Initially, the word that went around was that the SAF initially encountered the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and then ventured into the area of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, triggering another battle.
The second briefing took more than an hour and a half.
Through a glass window, the President was seen in a pensive mood as he watched a widescreen that showed aerial shots of a terrain.
The atmosphere was tense with everyone outside the briefing room wondering what exactly had happened in Mamasapano.
The Inquirer learned that the President wanted to fly to Cotabato that same night but was reportedly prevailed upon by the pilots and Gazmin not to do so. Cotabato City’s Awang airport is not equipped for night landing. The President later decided to return to Manila.
The President then thought of staying the night at Wesmincom’s Camp Navarro and his quarters there was immediately prepared.
After the security briefing, Roxas and Gazmin proceeded to the multisectoral meeting with Zamboanga City’s business leaders inside Camp Navarro. The President was left behind.
Roxas and Gazmin returned to EAAB an hour later. The President had decided to fly back to Manila instead.
President Aquino reportedly also wanted to go to Cotabato City on Jan. 26, Monday, but did not push through with the trip.
Instead, it was Roxas, Gazmin, PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda who went to Cotabato City.
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