Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago grilled resigned Philippine National Police director general Alan Purisima, Special Action Forces chief Getulio Napenas, and Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Mohagher Iqbal as the senate resumed its inquiry of the Mamasapano incident.
Santiago told Purisima that he should not have involved himself in the Mamasapano incident and questioned why he had been meeting with President Aquino regarding the Mamasapano operation, when he was already suspended at the time.
Santiago, who was given more than the regular five minutes to question the resource persons on the Mamasapano incident, said Purisima violated the rules of his preventive suspension when he interfered in — and even directed — police operations to hunt down Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman.
“Masyado kang busy,” she said. “You were participating with non of your business at the time.”
She said that the 44 SAF men might still be alive if Purisma had not meddled in the operation which had not been earlier coordinated with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not with the PNP acting chief Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina.
“You should have stayed in your estate in Nueva Ecija,” she said.
The lady senator said she did not believe that relieved SAF chief Napenas was all to blame for the incident.
“Lahat itinuturo niyo sa SAF commander. 44 men are dead, sentido komon lang yan eh,” she said.
Santiago berated Napenas for the Mamasapano operation, and for putting SAF men in an open field where they were easy targets for the enemy. She also said that the operations started rather late in the morning.
She said Napenas should not be accepting the full responsibility for the operation.
“Who are the people behind this operation?” she asked. She also questioned the role of the United States government in the Mamasapano operation.
The senator also asked where the reward money for Marwan’s capture or death would go?
Napenas said the reward will be given to the informant who gave information on Marwan, and not to the police. Napenas however did not name the informant.
Santiago also pinned MILF negotiator Iqbal why the MILF did not give any information about Marwan’s presence in their area, when they should have done so under the peace agreement menchanism.
“That is a sign of bad faith,” she said. (Eagle News Service)