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It may take decades before this is all sorted out.
“House Independent Bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez slammed Malacañang for discrediting the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (PNP-BOI) following its adverse findings concerning President Noynoy Aquino,” reports Ryan Ponce Pacpaco on Journal Online.
The report noted: “According to the BOI’s reports, President Aquino broke the chain of command after approving Oplan Exodus or the covert operation to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias ‘Marwan’ in Maguindanao, authorized by then suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima.”
Malacañang has supposedly dismissed the BOI report, saying the BOI led by Police Director Benjamin Magalong of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Director Catalino Rodriguez and Chief Superintendent John Sosito “did not send a formal request to hear the side of the President.”
Romualdez stated, “It is preposterous, absurd, ridiculous, and outrageous for Malacañang to discredit a government-sponsored inquiry.”
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 Mamasapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal. It has since been revealed that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and even some armed civilians were also involved in the clash.
Photo: Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s Facebook page
