Police investigators present Mamasapano report. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief and Board of Inquiry (BOI) chairperson Director Benjamin Magalong (center) holds up the BOI’s much-anticipated report on the Mamasapano clash. Looking on are his colleagues in the BOI, Directorate for Research and Development executive officer Chief Superintendent Catalino Rodriguez Jr. (L) and Directorate for Integrated Police Operations executive officer for Eastern Mindanao Chief Supt. John Sosito. Amanda Fernandez
Former Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief, on Friday commended the Board of Inquiry for its report on the Mamasapano clash last January 25.
“The BOI and the people behind it deserve commendation,” Lacson said on Twitter. “They did their job well, without fear or favor and according to their sworn duty.”
Lacson also also left a message for Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group head Director Benjamin Magalong.
“Your career ends when you retire; your character stays until the day you die. You can’t go wrong with the truth,” read his message.
Prior to the release of the report, Magalong told reporters that the investigation panel could look “look straight into the eyes of the family members of the SAF 44.”
“We are confident that we were able to seek out the truth,” Magalong said.
“Haharap kami sa tao na hindi mahihiya, kasama sa mga pamilya ng namatayan,” he said.
Forty-four members of the PNP-SAF were killed after one of its teams neutralized suspected international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan in alleged MILF territory in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25. The mission was done without coordination with the Moro rebels despite the government’s existing peace agreement with the MILF.
A total of 67 individuals died in the clash, including 18 MILF fighters and five civilians.
The top finding of the BOI that Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II formed to investigate the incident was that the chain of command was violated when President Benigno Aquino III, then-suspended PNP chief Director-General Alan Purisima and then-Special Action Force director Director Getulio Napeñas planned and oversaw the execution of Oplan Exodus
The panel found that Aquino “bypassed the established PNP Chain of Command” by dealing “directly” with Napeñas instead of with the officer-in-charge, Deputy Dir. Gen. Leonardo Espina.
“While the President has the prerogative to deal directly with any of his subordinates, the act of dealing with Napeñas instead of OIC-PNP Espina bypassed the established PNP Chain of Command,” the BOI said. — Amanda Fernandez/BM, GMA News
