Cayetano wants reopening of probe on Mamasapano incident

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano wants the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs to reopen its investigation on the January 25 Mamasapano incident, saying the “complete truth has yet to be discovered.”

In calling for the reopening of the Senate probe, Cayetano particularly expressed his dismay over the Ombudsman’s decision to include in its investigation the junior (SAF) men who survived the incident.

The senator explained that while he signed the committee report prepared by its chair, Senator Grace Poe, he said he did so with reservations “as I deemed it as a partial report and with strong recommendation to continue and complete the investigations.”

“I believed then, as I do now, that the complete truth has yet to be uncovered,” he said in his letter to Poe dated January 23, 2015.

“Furthermore, the search for the truth, to my mind, has been dealt another blow with the recent recommendation by the Ombudsman to initiate administrative adjudication and preliminary investigation proceedings even against junior PNP-SAF field officers who survived the Mamasapano incident and risked their lives for our country and our people’s safety.”

“Nakakalungkot po at nakakadismaya na kakasuhan ang ating mga magigiting na SAF Junior officers, samantalang ni isa sa mga MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) na kasama sa nag massacre sa ating Valiant 44 ay hindi man lang nasampahan ng demanda,” he further said.

Cayetano lamented that “there has not even an ounce of justice served to the valiant SAF members, their families, and our people for this gruesome massacre, and now it is the valiant survivors who are facing cases.”

“Is this not the height of injustice and callousness where the victims, instead of the perpetrators of this massacre, are the ones being blamed and persecuted? Is this not an insult to the heroic sacrifice of our Valiant 44?” he asked.

“I believe it is the Senate’s responsibility to fulfill our role as the people’s bastion for truth and justice and act on this,”   he further said.

While she said she shared Cayetano’s concern, Poe preferred to discuss first the report in the plenary for full deliberation “to determine if there is really a need for further public hearings.”

“As an alternative, however, Sen. Alan’s suggestion may also be discussed in the caucus that is traditionally held by the senate membership days after the SONA (state of the nation address). This could be another way to get the consensus of the Senate as a whole on the matter,” Poe said in a text message to reporters.

Majority of the senators have signed the report that found President Benigno Aquino III responsible for the incident that left 44 SAF men and several MILF members dead.

READ: 20 senators sign report holding Aquino responsible for Mamasapano