New Mamasapano probe yielded no shocking info—Grace Poe

THE seven-hour hearing of the Senate on the Mamasapano incident on Wednesday did not produce any shocking revelation that could change the original committee report, which found President Benigno Aquino III, among others, “ultimately responsible” for the debacle, Senator Grace Poe said.

“Sinikap nating bigyan natin ng pagkakataon si Senator Enrile na malinawan ang mga nangyari noong January 25, 2015. Sa tingin ko nabigyan natin sya nang sapat ng panahon para tanungin ang mga gusto niyang itanong,” Poe said in her closing statement before adjourning the hearing.

She said referring to Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, who initiated the reopening of the investigation.

‘Tayo naman nakapagtanong din pero sa tingin ko wala namang naiibang maaaring magpabago pa sa committee report natin sa puntong ito,” added Poe, who led the investigation as chair of the Senate committee on public order.

The investigation was conducted jointly by Poe’s committee along with the committees on peace, unification, and reconciliation; and finance.

Poe noted that the hearing, which started at 10:00 a.m. and ended at around 5:00 p.m., focused on almost “chronological and clinical timeline” on the incident.

“Also new info while discussed before, SAF Napeñas claimed that the US is assisting in the operation for real time and on real target and that the Mamasapano operation is not simply a police operation but a counter terrorism effort in a SAF mandate,” she said.

Napeñas is former Special Action Force (SAF) Director Getulio Napeñas, who led the police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 15, 2015 that left 44 SAF troopers and several others dead.

On Senate President Franklin Drilon’s questioning, Poe said it was also established that the President has been “misinformed” on the gravity of the situation in the Mamasapano and that communication was lacking in details.

She said it was also established during the hearing that “nobody was ordered to stand down from sending reinforcement.”

“We also received feedback from General Marquez. General Marquez stressed that there were certain things that have been done until that, it could have been more successful operations. For example, a solid contingency plan, strategic planning, full scale, which includes logistics, etcetera,” said Poe, referring to Police Chief Ricardo Marquez.