Retired-Chief Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso.
A retired police official claimed that he has “critical evidence” proving that there was an attempt to cover up events surrounding the bloody Mamasapano encounter to cushion its impact on the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
In an interview with Radyo Inquirer on Monday, retired-Chief Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso said that the two government officials talking in the recording “possibly” appeared in one of the Senate hearings conducted regarding the botched operation last year.
Refusing to provide specific details, Valeroso said the two officials in the supposed cover-up–one an elected official and an appointed government head–might have been called as resource speakers in one of the hearings.
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“Meron sigurong instances (na dumalo sila sa Senate hearings). Kasi maraming pinatawag na personalities doon. Posible kasi hindi ko naman nasundan yung kabuuan ng Senate inquiry na naconduct,” Valeroso said.
(There may have been instances when they attended the Senate hearings because many personalities were called to attend. It is possible but I was not able to follow the course of the Senate inquiry conducted.)
The retired police official said the 15-minute conversation might have occurred “a day or two” after the bloody January 25 operation.
Valeroso believed that the government officials in the conversation were pushing for the “division of the country into different territories.”
“Hindi lumalabas na for the sake of the country (ang usapan nila) kasi merong ibang pananaw na ang pagsusulong ng batas na gusto nilang mangyari ay ang pagkakahiwa-hiwalay o pagkakahati-hati ng ating teritoryo,” he said.
(It seemed that the topic of the conversation was not for country’s sake because they have a different view concerning the passage of the law. They want to push for the division of the country into different territories.)
He emphasized that the audio recording would raise new questions as to who should be held accountable in the events “before, during and after” the incident.
“Ang malinaw lang dito sa sinasabi natin is dahil sa piece of information na ito, magkakaroon ng muling pananaw kung sino ang accountable before, during and after the Mamasapano incident and kung ano ang kinalaman nito sa kabuuan sa usapin ng peace process o hangad nila na ipasa ang isang panibagong batas,” Valerso said.
(What is clear with this information is it would provide another view as to who should be held accountable before, during, and after the Mamasapano incident and its connection to the peace process and the legislative measure that they want to pass.)
He said the audio recording would have to be examined by technical experts to determine its authenticity and to ascertain the personalities involved in the conversation.
The retired official added that he was not yet in talks with any lawmaker concerning the release of the audio recording to the public. However, he said that he was willing to surrender it to the Senate if needed. CB