MANILA -- Police commandos who were serving an arrest warrant on a Malaysian bombmaker and his Filipino cohort in Maguindanao last Sunday would not have been killed had there been proper coordination on the ground, President Benigno Aquino III said Wednesday night.
Aquino, who was aware of the operation, in his message to the nation, said that lack of coordination with other security forces led to the bungled operation to arrest two suspected terrorists - Abdulbasit Usman and Zulkipli Bin Hir, alias Marwan - in Mamasapano town last Sunday.
He said he repeatedly reminded sacked SAF Director Getulio Napenas about the necessity of coordination.
"To my repeated reminders about the necessity of coordination, the director of the SAF answered, 'Yes Sir.' All that he said was that operational security, or the restriction of information only to those who needed to know, was likewise necessary," he said.
"Even then, I underscored the need to alert other branches, or their respective heads; the notification must come at the appropriate time, with complete information, for them to make the necessary preparations."
The President said Napenas only gave "very minimum compliance" to this directive.
"In simple language, the notification to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) came too close to the time of the encounter, thus making it difficult to determine if they were given enough time to prepare, had their assistance been necessary. If my order to ensure sufficient coordination had been complied with, then perhaps it was pushed to the limit, resulting in very minimum compliance," Aquino said.
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He said he was surprised to learn that the heads of the Western Mindanao Command or even the 6th Infantry Division had only been advised after the first encounter involving Marwan and Usman, the SAF forces were already retreating, and "the situation had already became problematic."
Aquino, however, failed to confirm if he is indeed the one who gave the go-signal for the operation, saying Marwan and Usman are already being targeted by the courts for various crimes.
In a press conference after his message, the President admitted that suspended Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima was giving him the information about the whereabouts of Marwan and Usman.
"‘Yung was General Purisima involved? He was Chief PNP and he was the one reporting to me starting from roughly around May of last year. And ‘yung dito naman, I was talking directly to the SAF director," he said.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, was not involved in the operation, Aquino said.
In the case of Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, who was not aware of the operation, he said, "we'll look into that...that will be borne out in the Board of Inquiry."
Kabataan Representative Terry Ridon said Aquino might have prejudged the Board of Inquiry looking into the incident by insinuating that the SAF might had some deficiency in coordination.
"The resulting bloodbath is not just the result of lack of coordination but the commander in chief’s liquefied backbone and failure of leadership. How can you lead your uniformed personnel when you can’t even take responsibility for your government’s decisions?” said Vencer Crisostomo, chairman of militant youth group Anakbayan.
Meanwhile, Aquino asked the public to avoid spreading rumors and fueling speculation about the incident and wait for the results of the investigation by the Board of Inquiry.
"The Bible itself says: The truth shall set us free," he said.
The President also reaffirmed his commitment to the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, a measure aimed at ending decades-long conflict in Mindanao.
"Let us also remember: The members of the SAF lost their lives while fulfilling their duty to maintain the peace. If the peace process fails, if we return to the status quo, or if the violence were to worsen, is this not the exact opposite of the cause to which they gave their lives?" Aquino asked.
Aquino also declared Friday, January 30, a national day of mourning for the fallen policemen whom he described as “heroes” who sacrificed their lives "in the name of peace." (Virgil Lopez/SDR/Sunnex)