(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said he could not imagine why the past administration had allowed Philippine National Police special forces to be used in Mamasapano considering they were trained to address urban terrorism and not jungle warfare.
He said this bungled operation and decision-making at the top led to the massacre of 44 PNP-Special Action Forces personnel four years ago. President Duterte said that it was like these officials fed the PNP-SAF members “to the lions to be eaten” when they did not order reinforcements in time.
Speaking at a recent PDP-Laban campaign rally in Batangas, Duterte said this is what former President Benigno Aquino III and former Interior and Local Government secretary Mar Roxas, who is now running for a Senate seat under the Liberal Party, should answer.
“Ang hinanakit ko sa kanya ganito.. ( My beef with him [Roxas] is this) Yung sa Mamasapano (In the Mamasapano) There are two questions bugging me… Pumasok ang mga sundalo madaling araw kasama ang mga Amerikano nakuha nila ‘yung isang finger ni Marwan, pagwithdraw bakbakan na. Namatay 44 lahat, massacred (The soldiers entered at dawn with the Americans, and they got the finger of Marwan. After they withdrew, there was fighting. Forty-four were killed, massacred),” Duterte said at a campaign rally at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum in Batangas on April 17, 2019.
-Questions for Roxas-
“Unang tanong ko, bakit pulis ang pinapasok mo? (First question, why did you let the police in?) The police was created to address urban terrorism…. They are not intended to fight in the jungles or in the mountains. Well, although they had trained as commandos pero bakit ‘yung mga taga-Maynila ang ipinadala mo (but why did you send those from Manila)? About six kilometers away, nandoon ‘yung 4th Division, nandoon ‘yung Army. May scout ranger ‘yan basta division. May scout ranger, may mga special forces. Bakit mo ipinadala ang…? So magtanong ako kay Roxas. Siya ‘yang DILG, bakit siya pumayag itong mga pulis. (So I will ask Roxas. He was the DILG [chief], why did you allow the police [in the Mamasapano operation]),” the President said in his speech.
Roxas had previously said that he had been out of the loop in the Mamasapano decision-making as then President Aquino had ordered the operation and made direct instructions for then suspended police PNP chief Alan Purisima to lead the over-all operations.
“Ako sabihin ko talaga (I will really say this), “Sir, bakit pulis ko ipadala mo (why did you send the police)? Bakit hindi army (Why not the army)? Bakit kayo-kayo lang diyan nag-uusap at ipinapasok ninyo ‘yung SAF, pag-extricate nila, ayon bakbakan? (Why were you the only ones who knew and talked about this and let in the SAF?) Madaling araw pa ang bakbakan, natapos gabi (The fighting started at dawn and ended at night) Ni wala lang mang isang kwitis na tulong, isang bomba, o isang helicopter (There was not even a spark of reinforcement — a bomb or helicoper). Merong TOG, helicopter — – about four or five. Davao City, Gen San may mga lima ‘yan, Awang may about siguro anim na helicopters. (There were around six helicopters in Awang) Bakit hindi niyo tinulungan? (Why did you not help them?) Naipit na buong araw bakbakan, hanggang gabi. (They had been trapped in fighting until night time) Why did you feed them to the lions to be eaten?,” Duterte said.
The President questioned why Roxas and Aquino did not immediately order reinforcements from the military to rescue the PNP Special Action Forces trapped in Mamasapano.
He likened the situation to letting the PNP SAF members to be eaten by lions.
“Anong klaseng deal ‘yon? (What kind of a deal was that?) Matanong ng hanggang ngayon hindi talaga lumabas ‘yan. Ako ayaw ko nang makipag-away kay Roxas. Hindi ko nga inilabas ‘to nung eleksyon eh. (This question has not been out in the open. I don’t really want to fight with Roxas. I did not even ask this during the elections),” Duterte said.
The President noted the military was just six kilometers away.
-Duterte cites Aquino for “hypothetical idiocy”-
Duterte recalled that he was there when former President Aquino called for a meeting in Zamboanga City where he saw how Aquino and his officials reacted.
“Ngayon ang katabi ko ang ISAFP chief. Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘Prangkahan mo ako, ano ang nangyari?’ Sabi niya, ‘Mayor, ‘wag mo na munang idaldal, patay lahat.’ Sabi ko, “Bakit walang nag-reinforce?” he asked the official of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The official answered that there was no order issued for them to rescue the PNP-SAF.
Duterte said he was with his aide Christopher “Bong” Go then, and he saw how then President Aquino reacted.
He said Aquino asked a general what he would do in such a situation. This, Duterte said, was “hypothetical idiocy.”
“Pagbalik niya, alam mo ang tanong ni Presidente Aquino sa general na isa? Sabi niya, ‘General,’ sinabi niya ‘yung pangalan, ‘… if you were there in charge, what will you do?’ Nung narinig ko sabi ko, ‘Mr. President, I have a flight to catch.’ Pero wala, sabi ko lilipad ako. Wala namang eroplano, gabi na eh. (I said I had a flight to catch even if there was no airplane, it was already late),” Duterte recalled.
“Tumindig ako (I got up to leave) because that was a very, very stupid question. Nangyari na, patay na, bakit magtanong ka pa …. sa general, kung ikaw ang nandoon anong gawin mo? (It already happened, [the PNP-SAF troopers] were killed, and you will still ask a general what he will do if he was there?) That’s a hypothetical idiocy,” the President recalled.
The Mamasapano clash occurred during a police operation, codenamed Oplan Exodus, which took place on a Sunday, January 25, 2015, at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao, by the PNP-SAF Special Action Force against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The operation aimed to capture or kill wanted Malaysian terrorist and bomb-maker Zulkifli Abdhir and other Malaysian terrorists or high-ranking members of the BIFF.
(Eagle News Service)
