Mamasapano carnage: Senate keeps AFP-PNP clash from public view

Senator Grace Poe. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate held closed-door hearings on Tuesday to avoid exposing verbal clashes between the police and the military on the Mamasapano incident last January 25, when 44 Special Action Force commandos were killed.

“It’s better because it’s very difficult, mahirap kasi kung magsasagupaan sila sa open hearing,” (It would not be good if they clash in an open hearing) said Senator Grace Poe, explaining the executive session between members of the police and military testifying on the bloody incident.

The executive session scheduled for 9 a.m. started at 9:20 a.m.  It was led by Poe, chair of the Senate committee on peace and order and dangerous drugs.

It is set to be followed by a public hearing at 10 a.m.

Poe said the senators would listen to the testimony of officials of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines who had heated exchanges during earlier public hearings on the incident.

Poe said there were discussions that could not be made public, like heated exchanges between members of the PNP and the AFP, as it could further erode the morale of soldiers and policemen.

The PNP and AFP “can reconcile their stories, or if they cannot – then we can see where the disparities are,” the lawmaker said Monday.

“At least when they get together, then they can either back up or contradict the statement of the other,” Poe told reporters.

Also, she noted that police or military strategies and tactics could be exposed in an open hearing.

The senator stressed that the executive sessions were not meant to hide the truth but for security reasons.

After the closed-door meeting, the Senate will resume its public hearing on the incident.

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