Aquino talks of agony over Mamasapano

MANILA, Philippines–His arms across his chest, President Aquino shook his head, looked at the floor and let out a sigh as he recalled the events before, during and after the Mamasapano debacle.

A 33-minute interview with the Inquirer captured on video showed the Chief Executive unburdening himself.

The bloody encounter that left 66 people dead—including 44 police commandos—has debunked the belief that he was the “Teflon president,” that supposedly no controversy would stick to him.

But the Jan. 25 Mamasapano slaughter had wrapped itself tightly around him. Ironically, the day was also the birth anniversary of his late mother and former President Corazon Aquino.

Aquino could not untangle himself, mainly because another central figure in the incident was his friend whom he had defended against corruption allegations: former national police chief Alan Purisima.

A far-reaching impact of the botched operation was its heavy toll on the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In the interview, Aquino recalled there was a gap between his text exchange with Purisima on Jan. 25—from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.—because he was already annoyed (nabuwisit) at his friend.

“There was a point I could no longer understand (Purisima’s) text messages. Which is which? Who attacked what? Of course, he wasn’t there in that area so I needed to get better information,” the President said. “(I was talking to) somebody who was very, very far from the action and who couldn’t give me the details that I needed to properly guide my actions.”

‘Oplan Exodus’

Aquino said that neither could he get a lucid report from then Special Action Force (SAF) commander, Director Getulio Napeñas.

“We got to talk to him sometime midafternoon,” Aquino said. “Bottom line, when we got to talk to him, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying. He was incoherent.”

Napeñas had in his laptop “Oplan Exodus” about the Jan. 9 briefing at Bahay Pangarap, the presidential residence. The meeting included the President and Purisima, with Purisima initiating the briefing.

Aquino recalled how detailed the Exodus plan was, with a table indicating who to contact in the ceasefire committee with the MILF rebels.

The presentation had details, indicating the houses of MILF commanders. It also included the moon phase “because the advantage of the night vision goggles would be dependent on how much illumination” there is at night, Aquino said.

‘Good marketing job’

“It was really a very, very good marketing job to convince me that what they (Napeñas and his planning staff) did was very, very thorough,” the President said.

Aquino said he stressed to Napeñas to make sure his men would not fall into a pintakasi, where the enemies would be reinforced by relatives and supporters, outnumbering the government forces.

Also, the terrain would favor the defender because it was flat and there would be no place to hide. “That is very basic and this guy (Napeñas) is a two-star,” Aquino went on.

Aquino paused, shook his head and gave an irritated sigh.

Coordination

He said this was where coordination with the military was important, as well as with the joint ceasefire panel. That would also take care of the problem of jeopardizing the peace process, he added.

“That’s where I really got annoyed (nabwiset talaga),” Aquino said. “He (Napeñas) nodded twice, as if it was logical there should be coordination.”

The President emphasized: “I gave an order and an order is not a whim.”

Aquino said he was baffled why Napeñas, whom he had promoted to a two-star general and performed very well in the Caraga region against illegal logging, would disobey him.

“I trust the guy who came from the school that has the motto courage, integrity and loyalty,” he said.

Seaborne commandos

He also said he reminded Napeñas: “If things go wrong, you would have to answer for this. That’s why there was a need for coordination.”

The President said that he was then informed that the 84th Special Action Company (SAC) Seaborne was also in the area. He said he directed the Armed Forces to reinforce the beleaguered Seaborne elements even after the military told him it was impossible to link up at that late afternoon.

Aquino said he stressed the need to do everything to help the cornered commandos.

“So I directed Wesmincom (Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero) to convince his battle staff and to come up with a plan to effect the linkup that night with reasonable risk,” the President said. “This meant this would not be an impossible mission. At the end of the day I said that regardless of the risk you have to resupply the 84th tonight.”

Aquino said there were still questions raised so he then said: “You utilize whatever resources you need.”

Need for perfect decision

The President also said that he wanted more soldiers from the Army Division Reconnaissance Company to reinforce the Seaborne.

He stressed that the “sense of urgency was never made apparent to anybody in Zamboanga City or even for that matter in Maguindanao, when they were talking for assistance.”

As if referring to the public that continued to criticize him, the President said: “If you were in my situation—insufficient, wrong, or you were directly misinformed about the information that you received at the planning, execution and the aftermath, can you make a perfect decision?”

RELATED STORIES

What went before: SMS between Aquino, Purisima

Aquino: Purisima lied to me

RELATED VIDEO