Philippine flags flutters at the People Power Monument in Edsa, Quezon City, January 18, 2016, in memory of 44 police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos killed by Muslim rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25, 2015. Forty four medium size flags were installed at the monument. The SAF commandos were part of a police anti-terror unit sent to Mamasapano to hunt down international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan in Barangay Tukanalipao.
INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
There are still questions that remain unanswered in the botched Mamasapano operation last year, such as the intelligence angle, that could be looked into when the Senate reopens its investigation next week, a security expert said.
“’Yung intelligence aspect hindi pa masyado na-touch,” former police intelligence chief Rodolfo “Boogie” Mendoza said in a chance interview with INQUIRER.net last week.
Mendoza, who is also an anti-terrorism expert and was credited for uncovering the Bojinka plot in 1995, which included a plan to assassinate Pope John Paul II, said that based on the people trail, Oplan Exodus would be ultimately traced to the Palace.
“If you’re talking about a project plan, mag sa-submit ka ng proposal for the Chief PNP [Philippine National Police]. Bago i-execute dapat authorized ka,” he said.
(If you’re talking about a project plan, you have to submit a proposal to the Chief of PNP. Before you execute (this plan) it should have been authorized already.)
He believed that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa had knowledge in the operation.
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“Based on what I know gumawa sila ng (they made a) proposal [for Oplan Exodus] kasi malaki ang (because it requires big) funding. It was brought to the attention of the Presidential Anti Organized Crime Commission,” Mendoza said. The PAOCC is headed by Ochoa, who is also the chairman of Anti-Terror Council.
“Why is he so silent?” Mendoza said on Ochoa.
President Benigno Aquino III had previously defended Ochoa of having a hand at the Mamasapano operation.
“Ang PAOCC meron talagang malaking funding capacity. Kaya lang they are violating certain policies. Bakit sila mag-manage ng case operation plan? They have to be centered on policy level. That’s one of the issues,” Mendoza said.
(The PAOCC really has a big funding capacity. The thing is, they are violating certain policies. Why would they manage a case operation plan? They have to be centered on policy level. That’s one of the issues.)
“[As to the] funding, sino ba ang nag fund ng (who funded) Oplan Exodus? Who are the project personnel involved? That’s why the President is supposedly supervising the project. ‘Yun ang (that’s the) other side of the issue that remains untouched,” he added.
Previous news reports also said that the US funded the high-risk mission in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that killed 44 policemen, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters and three civilians on Jan. 25 last year.
READ: ‘US behind Oplan Exodus’
The mission’s target was Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, one of Southeast Asia’s most wanted terrorists. He was killed in the operation.
A Senate investigation into the incident will resume on Jan. 27, as requested by minority leader Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
On Monday, the senator said he will prove that Aquino was “actively and directly” involved in the planning and preparation of the Mamasapano operation. IDL
READ: Enrile out to prove Aquino’s ‘direct’ involvement in Mamasapano