President Benigno S. Aquino III exchanges pleasantries with Princess Anne of Great Britain during the courtesy call at the Music Room of the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday (March 17). Her visit is in connection with her charity and various humanitarian works. Also in photo are British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Anwar Ahmad and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Mateo Montano. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Former President Fidel V. Ramos on Wednesday agreed with the findings of a Senate panel and the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (BOI) that President Benigno Aquino III is “ultimately” responsible for the bloody Mamasapano incident.
In a press conference in his office in Makati City, Ramos said Aquino can be held administratively liable for the Mamasapano incident as he violated Executive Order 226 or the rule on “command responsibility” which the former President authored in 1995.
“Any violation of this Executive Order by any government official, supervisor, officer of the PNP and that of any law enforcement agency shall be held administratively accountable for violation of existing laws, rules and regulations,” Ramos said, reading a portion of EO 226.
“There is no escaping that in the Philippines, we have been practicing the doctrine of command responsibility ever since we have been established as a government,” Ramos added.
Ramos said that EO 226 clearly covers the PNP, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) and all government offices under the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
“This is very clear, command responsibility in all government offices, military and civilians. It also includes all agencies, all personnel under the supervision of the Civil Service Commission,” Ramos said.
He maintained that the EO still stands as it has never been amended or repealed since its issuance.
“There is a chain of command in the Philippine National Police and it also applies to other agencies… Even in the corporate world, there is a chain of command. A commander is responsible for what his subordinate does or fails to do,” Ramos said.
Crossing party lines, at least 14 senators have signed the draft Senate committee report citing Aquino as the one “ultimately responsible for the Mamasapano massacre” and two others are set to affix their signatures, Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday.
Poe, the chair of the Senate Committee on Public Order, on Tuesday said Aquino was accountable after he allowed the then suspended PNP chief Director-General Alan Purisima to be involved in overseeing Oplan Exodus in Mamasapano in the morning of Jan. 25. (MNS)