Ex-SAF chief Napeñas files COC for senator under Binay’s UNA

The former chief of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF) will run for senator in the 2016 elections under the ticket of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

The embattled former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas, who led the ill-fated Mamasapano operation where 44 elite troopers were killed, filed his COC for senator at the Commission on Elections headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on Friday.

Napeñas, who retired from the police force in July after turning 56, said he decided to run under Binay’s ticket because the Vice President was supposedly the first government official who showed respect for the slain members of the elite police unit.

“Siya (Binay) ang unang nagbigay-pugay sa SAF, siya ang unang-unang tumulong. Priceless ‘yung ginawa niyang pagkilala sa SAF 44,” Napeñas told reporters.

(He was the first to hail the SAF, he was the first to help. The acknowledgement that he gave the SAF 44 is priceless.)

Binay has repeatedly slammed the administration of President Benigno Aquino III for supposedly failing to recognize the heroism of SAF 44. Binay also commissioned a P4-million “Tagaligtas 44” mural, which served as the backdrop for his “True State of the Nation Address” in August.

READ: Binay Sona: SAF 44’s valor extolled | Binay claim on SAF 44 mural a lie, says Palace

Napeñas said his decision to seek a Senate post was personal, stemming from a supposed clamor from the police and the military.

“Nais kong ipagpatuloy ang adhikaing matagal kong nang itinaguyod sa serbisyo sa kapulisan—ang kapayapaan… Para na rin makamit ang hustisya sa ating mga kapatid na namatay sa Mamasapano noong January 25,” Napeñas said.

“Bilang ama o nakatatandang kapatid ng SAF [troopers], ako’y naniniwala na responsibilidad ko na maipakita sa kanilang mga kaanak ang hustisya,” he added.

(I want to continue what I have long been advocating in the police service—peace…This is also to achieve justice for our brothers who died in Mamasapano in January 25.)

(As father or older brother of the SAF troopers, I believe that it is my responsibility to give justice for their families.)

READ: Former SAF chief Napeñas retires on Saturday | Ex-SAF chief: Troops vindicated but Aquino should trust his men | LP solon tells Napeñas to ‘man up’

Napeñas was relieved of his post and was placed on floating status after the botched Jan. 25 police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

He is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Sandigan Class of 1982 and a mistah of the PNP chief Director Gen. Ricardo Marquez. CDG