Palace answer: Why are you asking them again?

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

One for 20.

Malacañang on Tuesday addressed only one query to the Makabayan party-list congressmen who had 20 questions for President Benigno Aquino III on the Mamasapano debacle:

“Why are you asking them again?”

“If anyone looks at the questions posed by the Makabayan bloc, most of them have been responded [to] one way or the other by the President,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at the regular press briefing in the Palace.

He added: “The question is, ‘Why are you asking again?’”

Lacierda surmised that the congressmen raised the questions anew because they wanted the President to say something that would confirm their beliefs about Mamasapano.

“Maybe you don’t want the answers the President gave, or you are not satisfied with the President’s statement, or there is a line that you want the President to say,” he said.

Nonetheless, Lacierda said President Aquino remains “committed to uncovering the truth” and did not reject the bloc’s questions for him outright.

Separation of powers

Stressing the concept of separation of powers, Lacierda said it was up to the leadership of the House of Representatives to decide how to question the President in the inquiry into Mamasapano, set for April 6 and 7.

Lacierda said he believed a request to question the President should first be submitted to the House leadership and part of the reason for the procedure was to ensure that Mr. Aquino’s answers would be incorporated into official documents.

“And for that reason, there is the commitment to seeking the truth. However, this is a House investigation and therefore it should be in keeping with the House leadership as to the procedure, the manner of eliciting the truth mindful again, and let me emphasize, mindful of the separation of powers and the respect for coequal branches of government,” Lacierda said.

The Makabayan bloc last week submitted its questions for Mr. Aquino to the House committee on public order and safety headed by Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer.

Malacañang recently announced that President Aquino had waived his executive privilege and would furnish a copy of his exchange of text messages with his friend, resigned Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima, should the House investigators require it.

Mr. Aquino has spoken publicly about Mamasapano four times, the last time at the graduation rites at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) last week. He said his PNPA speech would be his last statement about Mamasapano, unless congressional investigators would require “further clarification” from him.

SAF mission

Early on Jan. 25, PNP Special Action Force (SAF) commandos infiltrated into Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, to capture al-Qaida-linked Malaysian terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and Amin Baco, alias “Jihad,” and their Filipino associate Basit Usman.

The commandos killed Marwan in an exchange of gunfire inside his hut in Tukanalipao village, but Baco and Usman escaped.

As they were withdrawing from Mamasapano, the commandos were ambushed by guerrillas from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Justice for Islamic Movement and armed residents of the town.

Forty-four commandos, 17 MILF guerrillas and three civilians were killed in the daylong gun battle.

No coordination

The SAF did not coordinate the mission with the military and with the MILF, which has signed a peace agreement with the government.

Under the peace deal, law enforcement in MILF communities should be coordinated with a joint government-MILF ceasefire committee to avoid mistaken encounters between government forces and fighters from the Moro group.

The sacked SAF commander, Director Getulio Napeñas, admitted he bypassed the military and the joint ceasefire committee because previous operations for Marwan’s capture that had been through the truce procedures were compromised.

The deaths of the 44 commandos sparked widespread public anger, which led to a delay in the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, the prospective charter that would establish a new autonomous region for Muslims in Mindanao as provided for in the peace agreement between the government and the MILF.

Most of the questions the Makabayan bloc had for Mr. Aquino were about the participation of Purisima in the SAF operation despite his suspension while under investigation on allegations of graft.

Lacierda stressed that Mr. Aquino has already “stated in a number of occasions” the role of Purisima, recalling that the President had even met with congressmen at the Palace shortly after Mamasapano to tell them his side of the story.

The militant congressmen, however, insist that the President’s story is full of gaps and they want him to answer their questions under oath, as he had been “flip-flopping” about his role in the SAF operation and the orders that he issued as the commandos were battling for their lives in Mamasapano.

US role

The lawmakers also want the President to disclose the extent of the United States’ participation in the operation to capture Marwan, who had a $6-million bounty on his head offered by the US state department.

At least six Americans believed to be from the Joint Speical Operations Task Force-Philippines were seen either with Napeñas at the SAF command post in Shariff Aguak town during the operation or in Mamasapano during the medical evacuations.

The joint task force was disbanded after the Mamasapano debacle.

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