Aquino sees politics in probe

DURING HAPPIER TIMES. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and President Benigno Aquino III during the signing of the Sin Tax Law in 2012. Back then, Enrile was Senate President. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III on Friday blamed politics for the Senate decision to reopen an investigation into the Mamasapano clash, saying Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, who had asked for the new probe, had an ax to grind against his administration.

The investigation by the Senate public order committee found that President Aquino was ultimately responsible for the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) counterterrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25, 2015, that left 44 police commandos, 17 Moro rebels and three civilians dead.

READ: Enrile seeks reopening of Mamasapano probe

The SAF commandos killed their target, Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” but the clash set back the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The Senate probe will be reopened on Jan. 25 to tackle “possibly new evidence” that Enrile claimed he had.

The new probe will be held exactly a year after the debacle that brought Mr. Aquino’s ratings to their lowest since he assumed office in 2010.

Grudge vs administration

“I think in all of these, we can see that politics is a major thing. Let us not forget the proponent of this [new investigation]. Perhaps, we will understand, most likely he has a grudge against my administration,” Mr. Aquino told reporters.

READ: Aquino wants SC ruling on Enrile bail studied

The President did not name Enrile, but it was the Senate minority leader who proposed a new probe, which was approved earlier this week.

Enrile, one of the founders of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), whose presidential candidate in May’s general elections is Vice President Jejomar Binay, is under trial for graft and plunder for his alleged role in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Binay and Sen. Grace Poe, an independent presidential candidate and chair of the Senate public order committee that investigated the Mamasapano clash, are leading Mr. Aquino’s chosen candidate, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, in voter preference polls.

Poe, who has agreed to reopen the Mamasapano probe, is fighting in the Supreme Court to stay in the race after the Commission on Elections decided to disqualify her on questions of her citizenship and Philippine residency that have been brought by detractors who she believes are working for her rivals.

Enrile had been detained for more than a year at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City, but was released in August last year after being allowed bail by the Supreme Court.

READ: Enrile returns to Senate

Reopening of probe

In October last year, he asked the Senate to reopen the Mamasapano investigation, saying he had questions to ask at a new probe based on information he received from survivors of the clash whom he had met in the police hospital.

He said the new probe would bring closure for the survivors and the families of the 44 slain SAF commandos.

“We know that the campaign period is near. My critics saw that [Mamasapano] was the worst incident to hit me since I assumed office. Of course, as President and father of the nation, I cannot be emotional when it comes to this issue. Jan. 25 is the birthday of my mother and the first anniversary of Mamasapano. It’s like they want to ensure I will have a hard time,” Mr. Aquino said, adding “the truth shall set us all free.”

Mr. Aquino noted that the committee report on the Mamasapano probe is not yet a Senate report, as the Senate has yet to tackle it in the plenary and vote on it.

“So this would be a good opportunity to complete the picture on what happened in Mamasapano and put on record what is right,” he said.

Insult to Poe

The President also took a swipe at Poe, who had refused to be Roxas’ running mate to make an independent run for Malacañang.

“When I was a senator [and a congressman], I was taught that one of the biggest insults to a committee head and the members of the committee is for the committee report to be recommitted, or returned, to those who had written it. [I was told] that it’s like saying your [report] is wrong, that’s why it is being returned to you,” Mr. Aquino said.

“So I asked, have things changed in the Senate? I was told by Senate President (Franklin Drilon) that the committee chair did not refuse [Enrile’s request], that’s why the [Mamasapano report] was returned to the committee. If the committee chair refused, the plenary would vote [to determine whether to return the report to the committee],” he said.

Poe, speaking at a news conference in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur province, on Friday, said the reopening of the investigation was not her personal decision but was decided in deference to Enrile.

She said she was never interested in reopening the probe, but because Enrile’s request was supported by other senators, she agreed to reopen it.

Poe said the hearings would seek fresh information, such as whether charges had been filed against those responsible for the deaths of the 44 SAF commandos and whether their families had already received the benefits the government had promised to give them.

The Department of Justice decided on Dec. 17 to resolve direct assault and murder charges against 84 of 90 MILF fighters accused of killing the 44 commandos. The 84 men failed to appear at the investigation of the Mamasapano clash. The rest were represented by lawyers or submitted statements denying any role in the gun battle.

Undelivered promises

Merlyn Gamutan, wife of slain Senior Insp. Joey Gamutan, said only half of the promised support from the National Housing Authority had been released to her family. She said there had been no word about the support promised by the National Police Commission.

“My daughter goes to a Catholic school [in Pagadian] and her admission there was dependent on a commitment made by (Zamboanga) Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz. So far, other cash benefits, such as those intended for livelihood, are still awaiting approval of President Aquino,” Gamutan said.

Marilyn Tayros, sister of slain Chief Insp. Reiner Tayros, said many pledges remains undelivered.

She said the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Social Welfare and Development had yet to make good on their promises to the families of the slain commandos.

Tayros said the families preferred the filing of charges against the killers to a reopening of the investigation.

“We hope they are not using the SAF 44 and the Mamasapano [clash] for [political reasons],” she said.

Sen. Francis Escudero, Poe’s running mate, said the Senate investigation found President Aquino ultimately responsible for the SAF operation, but whatever liability he had—whether administrative, criminal or civil—was up to the courts to decide.

No grandstanding

In a statement she issued on Friday, Poe said she would not allow the reopening of the Mamasapano investigation to be used as a venue for political grandstanding.

Neither would she use it to put her political rivals in a bad light, she said.

Poe said she would just moderate the proceedings and would not grill Roxas, head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government at the time of the Mamasapano clash.

She also said she did not want a confrontation between the police and the military at the investigation.

“They just need to answer the questions truthfully and to say what benefits have been given to those left behind by the heroic SAF 44,” she said.

Poe said there was no reason for her committee not to tackle any new information, whether it came from the opposition or from the administration.

“According to Senator Enrile, he has many questions to ask because he was not there at the time,” she said.

She said, however, that she was not aware of any new information about the Mamasapano clash.

The new investigation will not affect or void the committee report that has been signed by 21 senators, she said. With a report from Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao

RELATED STORIES

Aquino’s corruption fight marks modest progress –experts

Graft, red tape remain, Aquino told