Trillanes draws rebuke from SAF over ‘drinking spree’ tale

GET your facts straight first.

Newly minted Special Action Force head Chief Superintendent Moro Virgilio Lazo asked Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to check his facts first before making claims that SAF officials distracted military men by inviting them to a drinking spree on the eve of the Mamasapano operation.

“Ayaw ko po makipag-away kay Senator Trillanes pero as a soldier, as a cavalier, I am appealing to him na sana he should straighten out his facts first before making announcements like this because masakit po sa amin,” Lazo said in an interview over DZMM radio on Tuesday.

Trillanes and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin recently disclosed that members of the SAF treated some members of the Philippine Army in South Cotabato to dinner, which eventually led to a drinking bout on January 24.

In one of the Senate’s executive sessions, Trillanes and Gazmin confirmed that Philippine National Police intelligence officers at the dinner did not inform their military counterparts of the operation to take down “high-value targets” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.

The senator said the objective of the PNP was to ensure that the Army would not be able to operate because they wanted to do the mission by themselves.

But unlike Trillanes’ claims, Gazmin said SAF members were the ones who invited an Army brigade commander and a battalion commander to a drinking session.

This was disputed by Lazo who said that it is a protocol in SAF that before conducting an operation, troopers are being “isolated” in preparation for the mission.

“Now if there are other PNP officers who did that, we don’t know. That’s why we want to clarify insinuations that SAF men got the Army officers drunk. We don’t do that to our fellow soldiers,” he said.

But the new leader of the beleaguered unit, which lost 44 of its men after carrying out “Operation Exodus” that targeted international terrorist and bomb-making experts, said they would welcome investigation on the allegations against SAF.

“Dati po siyang sundalo and I am appealing to him na kung sana malaman niya kung ano ang tunay na nangyari ay i-rectify sana niya ang mga insinuations niyang gano’n,” he added.

He also asked Trillanes to be “responsible” when giving statements to the media so as not to “cause misunderstanding.”

For PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr.’s part, he said the PNP “respects” Trillanes’ statement but maintained that the PNP had no intent of sabotaging the AFP.

But Cerbo, who was a former PNP intelligence officer, noted that “social activities” like parties and dinner are usually organized by police and military officers to strengthen the relationship of both institutions.

“Based on my personal experience, we usually hold social activities with our military counterparts to promote bonding and fellowship between operatives,” he said. AC