What Went Before: Calls for Aquino to apologize over Mamasapano debacle

Since the massacre of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos on Jan. 25, calls have been made for President Aquino to apologize for the botched counterterrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.

The widows of PO2 Peterson Carap, PO2 Noble Kiangan, PO2 Jerry Kayob and the parents of PO1 Russel Bilog said they could not move on with their lives unless the President ended the finger-pointing.

“We want President Aquino to accept responsibility for this [bloody mishap], apologize publicly and sincerely and then investigate the one who gave those orders that led to the deaths of our family members,” Celestino Bilog said. “This issue would not have gone unanswered this long had the President simply stepped up and apologized.”

“Our grieving has not ended,” Janet Carap said, adding it would continue unless the government revealed everything about the operation.

Last week, former President Fidel V. Ramos said a sincere and humble apology from Aquino “would probably do 90 percent of the job.”

“What’s so difficult about that? A previous President said ‘I am sorry,’ and so that removed a lot of pressure on that person although eventually other things came up to cause her temporary detention in a hospital for alleged crimes,” Ramos said, referring to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“Certainly, he’s the Commander in Chief,” Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel said. “Humility is a sign of true leadership…. Genuine leaders never pass the buck.”

Senators Sergio Osmeña III and JV Ejercito blasted the President for supposedly being bullheaded.

According to Osmeña, Aquino should follow the example of then President Arroyo, who publicly apologized for the “Hello Garci” controversy in 2005.

“His pride is too high and [he] is stubborn at times,” Ejercito said.

Sen. Nancy Binay said the President should take responsibility for Mamasapano debacle. “If you follow the line of command, he’s the one on top, at the very top,” she said.

Even allies have also called on the President to say he’s sorry.

“A commander is responsible for everything that his unit does or fails to do. Unlike authority, which may be delegated, responsibility is something that a leader cannot pass on to others. Command responsibility is a time-tested leadership principle practiced and observed by great leaders all over the world,” former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.

“A leader assumes responsibility, not for any reason, except it is the right thing to do. Assuming responsibility does not automatically mean admitting criminal liability,” he added.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello resigned from the administration coalition, saying that he could no longer support the President and his “continuing cover-up” of the fiasco.

“He can go ahead and scratch me off the list of his allies,” Bello said. “Mamasapano is a deadly acid eating at the presidency,” he said.

“This is the latest development in the shrinking of the man from a credible President to a small-minded bureaucrat trying to erase his fingerprints from a disastrous project,” added Bello, who led Akbayan in supporting Aquino’s run for the presidency in 2010.

Source: Inquirer Archives