‘MORO’ AT HELM OF POLICE SAF President Aquino (center) and newly appointed Special Action Force Director Moro Virgilio M. Lazo share a light moment at the turnover of command at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City. At left is Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
His name is Moro.
By sheer coincidence, the Special Action Force (SAF) that he now heads is in the center of controversy with Moro rebels.
Chief Supt. Moro Virgilio Lazo assumed the post of SAF director in a very simple and brief “assumption of command ceremony” at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
He took over the post of Director Getulio Napeñas, who was relieved following the slaughter of 44 SAF commandos on Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.
Mr. Aquino attended the event, the first time that the Commander in Chief did, but he did not give a speech.
Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, officer in charge of the Philippine National Police, presided over the ceremony, handing over the SAF flag and the book of equipment from Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, the acting SAF chief, on the sparsely decorated stage.
‘Grateful, humbled’
The President and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas sat on the front row with the audience comprised of a handful of SAF troopers.
Before the ceremony, Mr. Aquino spent three hours in a conference room with the “Mamasapano warriors,” according to a Malacañang advisory, who participated in the raid that killed international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan.”
Only Taliño and Lazo gave very brief messages at the ceremony.
Lazo said that he was “grateful, honored and humbled” for having been chosen to lead the SAF, which he described as a “unit close to my heart.”
“Together united and as one, let us continue to affirm our commitment to be vanguards of peace may the force be with us all,” Lazo said.
Taliño, the deputy SAF director, thanked the President, Roxas, Espina and Deputy General Marcelo Garbo Jr., chief of the PNP directorial staff, “for entrusting me with the helm of leading the SAF during those challenging times.” Taliño said he hoped that the SAF would become “stronger, more united, and solid, and would always live up to [being] ‘Tagaligtas.’”
Lazo and Taliño are both members of the Philippine Military Academy Maharlika Class of 1984.
‘True SAF trooper’
Asked by reporters why Lazo was chosen to replace Napeñas, Roxas said that “at this time, the SAF is facing a big challenge.”
“A true SAF trooper is the best one to lead the SAF,” he said.
Roxas also told reporters that the PNP board of inquiry report on the Mamasapano massacre would deal with the alleged involvement of the United States in the operation.
“Whatever is written in the report and its conclusions and analysis, it should be able to answer several questions. First, is the plan appropriate? Second, was everything done to ensure the safety of our troops?” Roxas said. “Third, does the US have a role in this [operation]? If there is, what was the role of the Americans?”
The US embassy has denied any hand in the Mamasapano mission, except in the medical evacuation of the wounded upon request by the Philippines. With a report from Marlon Ramos
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