Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
SENATE Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday urged Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and others with new information about the massacre of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos a year ago to show up at the reopening of the Senate inquiry into the botched Mamasapano police mission.
“If they have knowledge then I suggest that they voluntarily appear and ask permission to submit their evidence. This is for the nation. It’s not for anybody,” said Enrile, who had called on the Senate committee on public order to reopen its inquiry in the light of new information he said he had gathered.
Enrile said he had evidence to show that President Aquino knew extensively about the Mamasapano police operation on Jan. 25, 2015, and had monitored in Zamboanga City the unfolding debacle in Maguindanao province, but did nothing to save the lives of the commandos as they were being slaughtered by Moro rebels.
Palace allies said Enrile was out to exact revenge on the President. Enrile has been charged with plunder in connection with a P10-billion pork barrel scam and is out on bail.
Duterte told the Inquirer that he was in Zamboanga City on that fateful day and was invited by then Interior Secretary Mar Roxas to a closed-door command conference at Edward Andrews Air Force Base at 5:30 p.m. as news broke out that the commandos were being annihilated.
Retired Chief Supt. Diosdado Valeroso, who has been linked to various coup plots, claimed over the weekend that he had a digital audio recording of a supposed conversation between a “ranking government official” and a “lawmaker” that could purportedly shed light on the Mamasapano carnage.
The SAF commandos staged a predawn raid that killed international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, but were slaughtered as they disengaged from the area controlled by guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The incident derailed a peace process that Mr. Aquino had envisioned to put in place before he steps down.
Enrile shrugged off reports about the claims of Duterte and Valeroso.
“I do not need them, I don’t know what they have,” he said. “If they think that what they have is material evidence to be known to the people and they are running for public office, it’s their duty to speak out without having to be subpoenaed … This is a matter of courage and moral courage above all.”
Prepared to tell all
Duterte, a presidential candidate in the May elections, said on Sunday that he would reveal what he knew about the massacre if he was called to the Senate committee hearing “because I have the moral obligation to tell what I know” and there was “no point in telling a lie with another lie.”
The Davao mayor also said he now knew more about the massacre after discussions with military officials who had knowledge of the debacle, revealing that the SAF 44 were “thrown into the lion’s lair” without the necessary wherewithal.
For his part, Valeroso said the two people in the recording appeared to be talking about an alleged attempt to cover up the bloody clash “to avoid its possible effect on the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law,” which Mr. Aquino had envisioned would be the charter of a new autonomous Islamic region in Mindanao.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said he would ask Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the committee, to invite Duterte to the hearing. But he said it was up to Enrile to decide whom to call to the inquiry.
Speaking to reporters, Enrile said it was up to Duterte and Valeroso to appear “if they have evidence.”
“I do not even know whether my evidence is acceptable, but I will present it anyway,” Enrile said.
Asked whether he expected the committee to hold just one hearing, Enrile said most of his questions to the resource persons were just answerable with a yes or no and that if he would not be interrupted, he could complete the interrogation in three hours.
Inadmissible
Senate President Franklin Drilon cautioned that Valeroso’s audio recording may not be used or even submitted to Poe’s committee because this will violate Republic Act No. 4200, or the Anti-Wiretapping Act.
Drilon wondered whether the audio recording that Valeroso was talking about was the one involving an alleged conversation between Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita Deles, which circulated in April last year.
He said he did not know for certain whether this was the same recording but added that if ever, this would be an “old issue” and “obviously political gimmickry.”
“But let me just remind Valeroso that under RA 4200, the unauthorized recording of conversations is unlawful, and may be punishable by six months to one year,” Drilon told reporters.
Also illegal was mere possession of such unauthorized recording and even communicating it or furnishing transcriptions of such unlawful recording, he added.
“The evidence of such a conversation is also inadmissible as evidence under the Anti-Wiretapping Act,” he said.
Not a court hearing
Enrile disagreed.
“This is not a courtroom where the strict rules of evidence apply,” he said.
“We are not investigators here for the prosecution. We conduct these hearings in aid of legislation because we might have to pass laws to correct what happened,” Enrile said.
“Any information that is pertinent, material and relevant to be heard by the nation must be put on the table. No excuses,” he added.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is prepared to cooperate in the Senate inquiry and help put closure to the tragic event, according to Col. Noel Detoyato, AFP public affairs chief.
“We are willing to cooperate if we are asked to provide the necessary reports or if they ask our officers to attend the hearing,” Detoyato said Monday.
“We continue to sympathize with our police counterparts and we hope the issue will have closure so we can recover from this episode,” Detoyato said. With a report from Julie M. Aurelio
