President’s apology a trap–Bam Aquino

MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV on Monday said his cousin, President Aquino, should not fall into the trap of rival politicians demanding his apology for the Mamasapano massacre.

In an interview with ANC, Aquino said the President had already taken responsibility for the collateral damage in the botched “Oplan Exodus” and that demands that he take full responsibility were loaded with pitfalls meant to cripple his political influence in the 2016 elections.

“We don’t live in a vacuum. Right now, a lot of the moves are really toward 2016. We are almost sure it’s a trap. We are almost sure that as soon as he says ‘sorry,’ someone is going to say, ‘Why is he smiling?’ or ‘Why doesn’t he look sincere?’ or ‘Why is his tone like that?’ I am almost sure that those who are asking [him] to say sorry are already ready with their statement after he does so,” Aquino said.

The senator insisted that the President had already taken responsibility for the failed mission that resulted in the death of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos as early as Feb. 6, the President’s second major televised speech on the incident.

“As the Commander in Chief, the responsibility rests in me. I am the father of the nation and I lost 44 children whose lives can never be returned. I will carry this [burden] until my last day. They are my responsibility, including those who survived and those who rescued them,” the President said in that address.

Aquino said he was surprised why people kept on asking the next day and the following weeks thereafter why the President was not taking responsibility for the carnage.

“Just this weekend, when I was in Isabela, that is still the question on people’s minds. I always say, he already said it and he admitted as much already. I think the effort to bring out the truth and be as transparent as possible is there,” Aquino said.

He said the President’s acceptance of responsibility was “categorical enough” but people and the media did not pick it up.

“It’s nothing new and you’ll be left wondering. Like they say, if a lie is said often enough, it becomes truth. Probably if a question is asked often enough, it becomes an answer. They just kept on asking and asking that’s why it looked like he did not answer it even if he did,” Aquino said.

Instead of hammering on the President’s responsibility, Aquino said, the public should focus on going after the killers of the SAF 44, ensure their widows and families will get government care and see to it that this does not happen again.

“I think the (Senate) report is quite clear that the responsibility is political in nature and not legal in that sense,” Aquino said.

But other senators continue to criticize the President for evading responsibility for the incident by blaming previously fired SAF Director Getulio Napeñas and recently resigned Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima.

Sen. JV Ejercito said Aquino was with the officials of the Department of National Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Zamboanga City on Jan. 25, the day of the massacre.

“He should have access to information during that time,” Ejercito said. “Why count on Purisima alone?”

Ejercito said: “That is still hard to accept. He is looking for an excuse but he always comes up short.”

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the President had said there was “nothing new” in his latest speech on the subject. “[The President] still says it’s everybody’s fault but his own. After this, the people will despair about ever learning the whole truth,” Marcos said.

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