Espina: SAF 44 not ‘fallen’

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, acting chief of the Philippine National Police, expressed hope that the findings of the board of inquiry on the Jan. 25 encounter that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos dead in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, would help heal a beleaguered police force.

He said if the findings, to be made public today (Monday), would reveal operational lapses, then healing would come and justice would have been served to the families of the 44 slain policemen.

The inquiry was designed as an operational audit of the Mamasapano operations but Espina said he was certain it would also establish the flow of authority from the SAF head to the ground commander.

He said he did not have any information yet about the findings. “There should be basis,” he said when the Inquirer asked if he would vet the findings.

Espina visited the headquarters of the Central Luzon police to award medals of recognition to regional policemen and officers who performed well.

But as soon as he accomplished this task, Espina told his audience to drop the term “fallen” when referring to the 44 policemen who were killed in a clash with Moro rebels in Mamasapano.

“Don’t use ‘fallen.’ Call them ‘gallant.’ I would like to remember how they lived, not how they died,” he said.

“For the dignity of their death, remember them as the Gallant 44,” he said, adding that they were the epitome of the PNP motto of service, honor and justice.

He encouraged police officials and personnel to “move on and not allow the tragedy to be an obstacle [to the performance of duty].”

Espina also dismissed reports about a coup plot, saying no one from the PNP wants to oust President Aquino. “We are constitutionally abiding police personnel,” he said as he denied his visits in the provinces were a loyalty check.

Asked who was being eyed as the next PNP chief or if his stint as acting chief would be extended, he replied: “It’s beyond me.”

Espina is set for mandatory retirement in July when he reaches 55 years old.

“We should all be supporting the next PNP chief,” he said.