Cayetano: Aquino accountable for Mamasapano clash, but …

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday said President Benigno Aquino III was accountable for the ill-fated police operation that left 44 troopers of the Special Action Force and several others dead in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, last year.

But according to the vice presidential aspirant, the President is not necessarily criminally liable for the death of the police commandos until the truth surfaces from the Senate probe, which reopened on Wednesday.

Asked if Aquino should be criminally charged for the death of the SAF troopers, Cayetano said the question was not answerable by yes or no.

“Accountable siya dahil siya ang commander in chief … Kung meron siyang order na iligal at pinabayaan niya, may criminal negligence at liability siya d’yan. It really depends,” Cayetano said over radio dzMM.

Cayetano said the reopening of the Senate probe on the botched operation was necessary to provide closure to the incident.

“’Pag wala pang katotohanan, hindi mo iko-close ang case,” he said.

The senator said the inquiry should finally shed light on certain matters, such as why SAF troopers and not soldiers were deployed in the operation, and the role of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its links to international terrorist Marwan.

Cayetano, however, lamented Wednesday’s session as a “replay” of previous inquiries, noting that the only difference was the increased aggressiveness of the representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and former SAF Chief Getulio Napeñas toward each other.

The resumed probe circled on Aquino’s supposed involvement in the botched operation, and the nonreinforcement of troopers and artillery support during the combat. RC