More SAF 44 kin file raps vs Aquino

MORE relatives of the slain 44 Special Action Force (SAF) officers filed a criminal complaint on Friday against former President Benigno Aquino over the botched Mamasapano operation last year.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) accompanied the relatives at the Office of the Ombudsman, where they filed a complaint of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide against Aquino, dismissed national police chief Alan Purisima, and sacked SAF commander Getulio Napeñas.

The relatives who filed the complaint were Julie Faustino Danao, mother of PO2 Walner Danao;  Celestino Kiangan, father of PO2 Noble Kiangan, and Felecitas Nacino, mother of PO2 Nicky Nacino.

PO2 Danao was the SAF cop who figured in a viral video showing him being kicked in the head and stripped naked after the encounter, his mother said.

“I am asking for justice. We have been waiting for this for so long. Until now, it has been a year and seven months. We ask for justice for our sons who died in Mamasapano,” Danao said.

She called on President Duterte for help to make the three “accountable” for the deaths, which also forced Congress to scuttle signing a legislation that would give Muslim rebels who had signed a peace deal with government an expanded autonomy in the south.

“Kay President Duterte, we need justice [because] I know you’ll understand and you’ll help us. We’re here to claim your word. You said that whoever was at fault would be held accountable. We are now here asking for justice!” the teary-eyed mother of PO2 Danao said.

Nacino also denied criticisms that parents of the SAF victims wanted Aquino charged because the soldiers’ wives and not the parents received the benefits promised by government.

“We come here to ask for justice for the SAF 44 who died violently,” stressed Kiangan.

The three are the latest to have filed charges against Aquino. Two other relatives filed criminal complaints a day after the former president stepped down and lost his immunity from suits. He has vowed to fight the charges, calling them “frivolous suits.”

A total of 15 relatives plan to file homicide charges against the former president, according to VACC spokesperson Boy Evangelista.

In their complaints, the relatives stressed Aquino should be held liable for the botched operation because he authorized Purisima even though the latter was suspended for graft at the time. They said the president also failed to order a rescue operation for the victims when Muslim rebels attacked them at a cornfield in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on Jan. 25 last year.