No need to change SAF 44 report–Poe

Sen. Grace Poe yesterday said that the Senate committee on public order would stand by its original report on the Mamasapano tragedy released eight months ago after the latest hearing requested by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile didn’t yield any new findings on the botched mission which killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers a year ago.

During the Inquirer multimedia forum, Poe said the only “new thing” established in Wednesday’s hearing was that all officials in the Armed Forces command chain confirmed that the President did not hold back   military support for the retreating SAF troopers.

The withdrawing commandos came under attack from various Moro rebel forces after they killed Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” on

Jan. 25, 2015, in the cornfields of Maguindanao province.

“Every single person asked by Senator (Edgardo) Angara: ‘Did the President order anybody to stand down? Did anybody order the  military to stand down from sending support?’ Everybody said nobody did, not even the President,” Poe said.

She said the committee was  able to verify that “what we had done in the first hearing is  actually quite complete.”

The hearing wasn’t a total waste, Poe said, because the senators were able to allay fears that the committee was moving to cover up for the President by rejecting Enrile’s request to reopen the hearing.

She said 21 senators had signed the original Mamasapano report and it was unlikely that a majority of them would agree to change the recommendation based on the fruitless hearing on Wednesday. Poe said that at best, the committee would submit a supplemental report.

Poe reckoned that the President, however, could not be held criminally liable for Mamasapano. “As commander on the ground, you are responsible for your men. But you make decisions that you cannot be faulted in court. If we do so, we will weaken the  powers of commanders on the ground,” Poe said.

“The President could have, should have utilized the chain of command so that the burden would have not been upon him. What was certainly clear, those in different chains of command failed to ask regularly how our men were doing,” she said.

No stand-down order

Poe said the SAF commander, Director Getulio Napeñas, himself at 1 p.m. on the fateful date wasn’t clear how his men were doing.

“That for me was the most unfortunate (thing) that happened there,” Poe said.

Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma also noted that all military and police officials at the hearing, including Napeñas, testified that there was no stand-down order from the President.

“They did not hear such an order, there was no such order given … the allegations of

Senator Enrile were addressed and disproved,” Coloma said.

Mr. Aquino’s allies in the Senate likewise thought that Enrile failed to draw new testimony to support the minority leader’s claim that the President was accountable.

Enrile said the President “compartmentalized” the police operation between him and then suspended Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima and thus, should be blamed for the bloody aftermath.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, told reporters on Thursday if there was anything to add in the final committee report, it was that “the President did not actively and directly participate in the planning and execution of ‘Oplan Exodus’ (the code name for the project to get Marwan), except that it was submitted to him.”

Just a replay

“It’s possible that there are some things the public did not know because we had discussed it during our executive session. But now this came out in open session, maybe that’s the difference,” Angara said in a radio interview yesterday.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday’s hearing was just a “replay” of the previous sessions. “We all know there are missing links, missing time frames but each sector stuck to its story,” Cayetano said.

He said only a new administration could order those involved to tell the truth.

Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas said prosecutors watched the hearing.

“In our assessment, there’s really nothing new there. So whatever is on the table now, we continue as far as that case is concerned. From what we heard (in Senate), it doesn’t seem like there’s anything that would change,” he said. With reports from Christine O. Avendaño, Nikko Dizon and Nancy C. Carvajal