Del Rosario: SAF officers used Google maps, not tactical maps. At the resumption of the House hearings on the January 25 Mamasapano incident on Tuesday, April 7, Army Col. del Rosario tells lawmakers that the Special Action Force officers only used Google maps, not tactical maps, to show location of trapped SAF commandos. GMA News
The House committees investigating the Mamasapano clash on Tuesday asked three military officials to submit their mobile phones for forensic examination to check whether they were telling the truth or not.
On the motion of Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman Salliman, the chairman of the House Committee on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity, asked Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, head of the Western Mindanao Command; Brig. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of the 6th Infantry Division; Col. Gener del Rosario, head of the Army 1st Mechanized Brigade to submit their phones for examination.
“If you could please, those mentioned persons, comply,” Salliman said.
Acop was asking the military officials the reason why they did not fire the artillery as reportedly requested by the Special Action Force officials.
“In your standard operating procedure, you were given the sole prerogative to fire artillery support, it was there and you did not exercise that. This is for Colonel Del Rosario, you sent a text message to your boss, tama? Nagsasabi na kayo ng iba, iba yung sinsabi ng Philippine National Police,” he said.
“Could you please submit your celphone for forensic exams so that we can find out whether what you were saying were the truth or not,” he added.
Pangilinan was supposed to answer but did not proceed.
Guerrero said they already submitted a transcript their text messages exchanges but Acop still wanted to check their mobile phones.
“Yung transcript nababago yan. Hindi po ako galing sa anumang organization. Nanggaling din ako dyan so I want to find out kung sino talaga ang nagsasabi ng tutuo, dahil dito pa lang hindi na nagkakatugma yung sinasabi ninyo,” said Acop, a former police official.
Acop was a police general when he retired and served as director of the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, among others.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares also asked the committee to have the mobile phone of resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima be subjected to forensic examination but the latter opposed it. —NB, GMA News
