Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Administration allies, led by Senate President Franklin Drilon, rallied around President Aquino Wednesday as Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile attempted to pin the blame on the Commander in Chief the deadly clash between police commandos and Moro fighters in Mamasapano a year ago.
At the reopening of the inquiry into the carnage in Maguindanao province, senators pointed to purported inaccurate information fed to the President by police officials about what was happening in the early hours of Jan. 25, 2015, which meant Mr. Aquino did not know what was actually happening on the ground.
Enrile earlier said he would show that Mr. Aquino knew that the Special Action Force (SAF) troopers were being slaughtered in the clash with Moro fighters, but did nothing about it.
Sen. Teofisto Guingona III pointed out that the text messages that suspended Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima sent to Mr. Aquino on the morning of Jan. 25 showed that the President was told that some 160 SAF fighters were up against 15 to 20 adversaries.
Mr. Aquino was also informed that one SAF trooper was wounded.
“Based on the information that was fed him, there was no basis for the President to be alarmed,” said Guingona, a member of the President’s Liberal Party.
In the President’s mind, the operation was going as planned, he added. “That’s why I think it was unfair to say there was no concern on the part of the President.”
Guingona pointed out that Purisima told the President that the SAF troopers had mechanized and artillery support from the military.
With this information, an ordinary person would conclude the operation was going all right, he added.
Purisima sought to clarify, though, that he did not mislead the President by giving him that information. It was just what was available at that time, he said.
Sen. Sonny Angara also attempted to show that contrary to what had been reported, there was no order to military, police and security officials from the President to stand down during the clash in order not to jeopardize the government’s peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Angara asked the officials present during the hearing to say whether they had received any directive from Mr. Aquino to withhold assistance to the SAF troopers. None of them said they got such an order.
Former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas was among those who said he did not get this kind of order missive. With a report from Jerry Esplanada