Former PNP SAF Chief Supt. Getulio Napenas and former PNP chief Alan Purisima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
It’s final.
The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday said sacked Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima and former Special Action Force (SAF) chief Director Getulio Napeñas would stand trial in the Sandiganbayan for their roles in the deaths of 44 police commandos in the hands of Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, last year.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales thumbed down the separate appeals filed by Purisima and Napeñas seeking to set aside the antigraft body’s earlier resolution that recommended their indictment for graft.
“[The former] police officers’ motions for reconsideration deserve scant consideration,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.
Usurpation of authority
Morales also approved the filing of a separate case for usurpation of authority against Purisima—a longtime aide and close friend of President Aquino—and Napeñas as spelled out under Article 177 of the Marcos-era edict Revised Penal Code.
For the second time, the Ombudsman imposed a lifetime ban on Purisima from serving in the government after he was found guilty of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
According to the Ombudsman, Purisima’s role in carrying out the counterterrorism mission, called Oplan Exodus, to capture notorious Malaysian bomb expert Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, “amounted to usurpation of official functions.”
It noted that he was already serving his suspension for six months over the questionable P100-million courier service contract with Werfast Documentation Agency Inc. when the operation was conducted on Jan. 25, 2015.
In addition, the Ombudsman said that the then PNP officer in charge, Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, issued a “cease and desist” order in December 2014 against Purisima.
Breach of command chain
“Purisima’s active participation and supervision of Oplan Exodus… violated the PNP chain of command,” the Ombudsman said.
Like Purisima, Napeñas was also slapped with permanent disqualification from public office and cancellation of retirement benefits and civil service eligibility.
Purisima, who was dismissed from the PNP in June last year in connection with the Werfast deal, and Napeñas, who bowed out of the service the following month, were also ordered to pay a fine amounting to their salary for one year.
The Ombudsman said the former SAF chief’s “constant reporting and official dealings with Purisima, notwithstanding the latter’s suspension, and sans the knowledge and approval of… Espina, made him liable as a cohort of Purisima in usurping official functions.”
“Napeñas’ plea of leniency on account of his 37 years of meritorious service in the government cannot be countenanced by this office considering that the penalty of dismissal from the service is an indivisible penalty,” the antigraft body ruled.
Aquino’s role
The Ombudsman investigation of the Mamasapano debacle did not cover the role of President Aquino in the police counterterrorism operation.
Sen. Sonny Angara on Thursday said the Senate investigation of the tragedy found President Aquino politically responsible, but this did not mean it considered him criminally liable.
“What the Senate found was political responsibility and accountability resided in the President. This is not necessarily the same as saying he is legally liable,” Angara said in a text message to the Inquirer.
Angara was responding to the question whether Mr. Aquino could be charged after the end of his term, given that the Senate investigation led by Sen. Grace Poe found him ultimately responsible for the police mission.
Oplan Exodus
Purisima and Napeñas briefed Mr. Aquino twice in Malacañang about Oplan Exodus, which they had kept a secret from Espina and the military.
The mission was to get Marwan, for whose capture dead or alive the US government had offered a bounty of $5 million.
A secondary target of the mission was Basit Usman, a Filipino aide of Marwan on whose head the US government had put a price of $3 million.
Two SAF units—the 84th Special Action Company (SAC) and the 55th SAC—were sent into Mamasapano to get Marwan and Usman.
The 84th SAC was the strike force and it successfully penetrated the village where Marwan’s hut was located. The PNP investigation said the commandos killed Marwan and cut off his right index finger for DNA testing, but got into a gun battle with Usman and other bodyguards of the Malaysian terrorist on their way out of the village.
The 55th SAC, the blocking force, failed to come to the assistance of the 84th SAC, as it had lost its way and got into a gun battle with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters rebels and armed residents of Mamasapano.
Of the 36 members of the 55th SAC, only one survived the daylong gun battle. The 38-strong 84th SAC lost nine men.
The MILF lost 17 fighters in the exchange of fire with the police commandos, and three civilians were killed in the crossfire. With a report from Leila B. Salaverria