Aquino also a ‘victim’ in Mamasapano debacle—House allies

MANILA, Philippines— President Benigno Aquino III is also a “victim” in the Mamasapano debacle, according to his allies in the House of Representatives.

Liberal Party lawmakers on Friday sought to paint a picture of a suffering President Aquino, whose approval and trust ratings had plunged to their lowest levels in the aftermath of the Jan. 25 bloodshed in Maguindanao province.

Mr. Aquino “is also a victim in the bloody Mamasapano raid and should not be treated like he is one of culprits” in the clash that killed more than 60, including 44 police commandos, said Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, secretary general of the ruling party.

“Why would [his critics] want to crucify him on something that he had no control of? I think that the President has had enough of this Mamasapano issue,” he said in a statement.

Sarmiento said Mr. Aquino had done everything humanly possible not just to help the families of the victims but also to explain the “very little role that he had” in the bungled Special Action Force (SAF) counterterrorism operation.

“He doesn’t need to explain himself anymore,” he said.

“Last statement”

On Thursday, Mr. Aquino asked for the public’s understanding of his actions in the Mamasapano debacle in what he said was his last statement on the tragedy, which plunged his administration into its deepest political crisis with only 500 days left in his six-year term.

“Some people are demanding accountability and some are even demanding his resignation allegedly because of command responsibility but even the [police board of inquiry] and the Senate reports cannot dispute the fact that the only involvement of the President in this Mamasapano incident was to give the order to execute the operation against [terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan”] and [Basit] Usman,” Sarmiento said.

“The President’s speech was very sincere and direct to the point. It made a lot of sense. At the same time, it showed a very human side of the President. The President, once more, took responsibility despite the fact that he never had any control of the actual situation on the ground,” Sarmiento said.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said the President’s speech to the graduates of the Philippine National Police Academy should be the last, adding “it is time for the nation to move on instead of trying to further squeeze blood from stone.”

“I think that this should be end of it. The President has spoken far too much about what he knows and about his limited involvement in the encounter in Mamasapano. He has opened himself up to the Filipino people, and in the spirit of transparency and honesty has said all there is that he can really say about it. All his statements appear to be consistent,” Nograles said.

‘Intense sadness’

Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas said he felt the “intense sadness and sense of frustration” of President Aquino in talking about his failure to reverse the situation in Mamasapano.

“Even more difficult is that you feel betrayed by the very same people whom you really trusted to lift him up. Getting over the pain of Mamasapano is also hardest for the President,” he said.

“I can hardly imagine how bad the President feels about this whole affair. This is not easy to bear, especially when some are accusing you that you are directly responsible for the death of 44 people. This is completely unfair for the President,” Treñas said.

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