MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Saturday said the Philippine National Police’s board of inquiry (BOI) cannot impose accountability on President Benigno Aquino III regarding the Mamasapano clash where 67 Filipinos were killed because its report was based on the wrong premise.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“The PNP BOI cannot assume to impose upon the President his role and corresponding accountabilities as Commander in Chief of the PNP without itself understanding the very nature of the PNP as a civilian agency that should relate to the President as its Chief Executive,” De Lima said in a statement.
Based on the BOI report, President Aquino along with sacked Special Action Force Commander Getulio Napeñas violated the chain of command in implementing Oplan Exodus which investigators found to be “defective” from the get-go.
The report which was released on Friday said the President, as Commander in Chief, is bound by the Philippine National Police (PNP) chain of command under the PNP Manual.
De Lima, however, in a statement said as early as 23 years ago, the Supreme Court already declared in the case of Carpio v Executive Secretary (G.R. No. 96409) that the President is not the Commander in Chief of the PNP.
“He is not the PNP Commander in Chief because under the 1987 Constitution, the PNP is no longer part of the Armed Forces,” De Lima said.
“Based on a wrong premise, the BOI report on the nature of the President’s role can only arrive at a wrong conclusion. Inevitably, the BOI report gratuitously made the President privy to the PNP’s erroneous dogma that he relates to the PNP as Commander in Chief. This unconstitutional and even illegal operating premise of the PNP cannot bind the President,” the secretary said.
A copy of the BOI report has been forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of its evaluation to determine who should be held criminally liable for the deaths in the Jan. 25 incident.