Purisima’s ‘pa-pogi’ turns ugly

Ed Javier / Where I stand

Talks are rife that resigned Philippine National Police Director-General Alan Purisima was planning to stage a spectacular comeback as PNP chief by bagging international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, the so-called “Osama bin Laden of Asia,” while serving his six-month preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman for allegations of graft and corruption.

As I see it, Purisima’s arrogance and desire to repair a reputation torn to tatters are what drove him to violate the chain of command, which is a sacrosanct principle drilled into the collective consciousness of our men in uniform.

His sense of self-importance was behind the disastrous “advise” to the now suspended Special Action Force (SAF) chief, Police Director Getulio Napeñas, to keep   Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and PNP Officer-in-Charge Deputy Director-General Leonardo Espina out of the loop on such a major police operation involving the capture of a bandit with a $5-million bounty on his head.

It was also the height of arrogance for him to say, “Ako na ang bahala kay Catapang” (I’ll take care of informing Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang) as if the latter were just a mere underling.

Purisima’s huge ego, by virtue of his proximity to power—he is publicly acknowledged as a close friend of President Aquino—as clearly pointed out by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, is the key factor that led to the doomed Mamasapano affair which claimed the lives of 44 SAF commandos.

At this point, however, it appears his goose is cooked.

Napeñas has made a damning disclosure. Among them: that he had been coordinating with Purisima who was then under preventive suspension. This underscores one alarming fact—that Purisima, even while suspended, had been calling the shots, although he repeatedly denied this, claiming he merely gave “advice” to Napeñas.

Purisima thinks he can take the public for a ride by insisting that he did not take part in the operations and that he merely “advised” Napeñas. But who would believe Purisima merely gave advice when it was clear he had the ear of the President with regard to the plan’s progress right from the start?

Purisima disclosed he went with Napeñas and his group to Malacañang for updating and coordination meetings with the President even after he was suspended.

Napeñas apparently believed Purisima had the blessing of P-Noy. After all, the then-suspended Purisima could not just sit in those highly confidential meetings if he was not invited by the Office of the President.

If it can be proved that Purisima, indeed, had the President’s tacit approval, then P-Noy is guilty of defying the Office of the Ombudsman, which is a constitutional body.

That order by the Ombudsman meant that Purisima was temporarily excluded from the chain of command. Any action by him while the suspension was in effect is, therefore, without authority, or worse, unlawful.

What is the consequence of a sitting President’s act of defying the order of a constitutional body? Let the lawyers and constitutionalists answer that.

At this point, the public perception is clear. The Mamasapano massacre was a result of the bungled handling by Purisima and whoever was giving him the authority to meddle in such a major operation.

Nobody is buying the lie that no one very high on the administration totem pole blessed or gave the go-signal for this botched operation.

It is widely suspected that Purisima deliberately excluded Roxas and Espina to score “pogi points” so he and his cohorts could claim credit should they succeed in neutralizing Marwan.

Instead, what we saw in the cornfields of Mamasapano was the face of death.