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Can it get any stranger than this?
“Senator Bongbong Marcos has rejected calls for President Benigno Aquino III to step down amid public outrage over his alleged failure to save the lives of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers trapped in a fierce firefight with Muslim rebels last January 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao,” reports Bernadette E. Tamayo in Journal Online.
Instead, Marcos says Aquino only needs to provide answers to the questions about the incident.
Addressing Aquino, Marcos stated, “What I read in one report was right, don’t step down. Step up. Step up to your responsibility. Step up to the country. And tell them exactly what is happening and what your role was in this Mamasapano massacre.”
Marcos added: “I think the President only needs to answer these simple questions: What exactly is your role in Oplan Exodus? Were you the one in charge, or did you merely intercede? When did you know that we are already suffering from heavy casualties and what were your instructions after learning this?”
The senator went on to say, “I hope the President takes it upon himself to tell us all about this. If his explanation is credible, we can conclude our investigation. We already knew what happened and that will enable us to make the necessary corrections in the Bangsamoro Basic Law.”
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF are currently doing probes on the Mamsapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal.
Photo: Cesar Tomambo, Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau (PRIB)
