Who gave the final order?

A new inquiry into the Mamasapano massacre starts today to try to clear the confusion over who gave Operation Wolverine the signal to proceed.

The increasingly skeptical public, after two weeks of bewildering official accounts, looks to the Senate inquiry by Sen. Grace Poe’s committee on public order as possibly the only independent, credible probe to determine who would ultimately be liable for the commando operation that killed its terrorist target but tragically lost 44 elite soldiers allegedly due to “lack of coordination” between the military command and police authorities.

The fallout from what is already branded a “botched” operation has spawned public outcry, and is seen as the biggest crisis to rock the disaster-prone Aquino administration.

 

Most awaited testimony

The most awaited testimony before Senator Poe’s inquiry, which begins its hearings today, would be that of resigned Philippine National Police Director-General Alan Purisima and PO2 Chris Lalan.

His resignation was accepted by President Aquino during a national television address last Friday, but Poe said her panel “still expects him(Purisima) to appear.”

The senator said the panel wants Purisima to shed light on his involvement in Operation Wolverine, which he conceived based on cumulative intelligence data only he possessed, and later named Operation Exodus when put in operation on the basis of “actionable intel.”

Poe said Purisima’s resignation should not excuse him from the proceedings. Aside from the SAF operation, the former PNP chief, who is serving a six-month suspension by the Ombudsman over an allegedly anomalous deal at Camp Crame, could also tell the panel why he decided at this time to leave the service.

Lalan was the lone survivor in the ensuing Mamasapano clash with forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which pinned the bulk of the raiding team that frantically radioed for cover, reinforcement and extraction from military forces in the area.

 

Conflicting claims

The clash, initially labeled a “mis-encounter” by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas who was deliberately kept in the dark about the operation, turned into a massive firefight, resulting in the biggest single-day combat loss by government forces. Why it happened, despite a ceasefire between the MILF and the government under a promising peace process, and how the operation turned into a massive, largely uncoordinated blunder in the end, remain hazy amid conflicting claims by police and military authorities.

Although suspended when the January 25 operation was launched, Purisima, not PNP OIC Leonardo Espina, was apparently giving orders to the Special Action Force Commander Getulio Napenas, bypassing the chain of command.

Nepanas has already admitted having received direct orders from Purisima. Purisima instructed him not to tell Espina about the operation until the SAF raiding team had killed its target, the Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, who had a $5-million bounty on his head.

But Purisima, adamantly disowned any such order. “It’s a lie. I was not in control…I am still suspended. I will not give any order,” he told GMA News. What he allegedly provided was an “intelligence packet,” and denied he was pressured to resign. He promised to face the Senate inquiry.

 

Other developments:

• The Mamasapano clash is also being investigated by a police board of inquiry, the Department of Justice, and the Commission on Human Rights. If Congress enacts a law, a truth commission could also come in. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima named five state prosecutors and National Bureau of Investigation agents to the DOJ panel. It has a 60-day mandate to submit its report and recommendations.
• Ferdinand Marcos said he hopes the Senate inquiry would clarify certain facts that could lead to the reopening of hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Marcos suspended the Senate committee hearings citing some “clear flaws” in the basic agreement between the government and the MILF.

 

Lasting peace

The objective, he said, is to institute a system that would bring about true and lasting peace. Why was the operation kept secret from the PNP OIC? Why was the plan to extricate the soldiers from the site not even carried out? Why was Purisima involved in the mission—a violation of the protocol on his suspension? And who gave the go signal for the mission? These are the significant questions that authorities need to answer, Marcos said.

Anti-crime and –corruption advocates, led by the Volunteers from Crime and Corruption (VACC), demanded that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr should also resign for his involvement in Operation Wolverine. Purisima’s resignation, the VACC said, should not shield Ochoa and other high government officials behind the “top secret” operation from liability. Ochoa is man of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), which allegedly secretly funded the PNP-SAF operation. “He must resign and (be) placed under investigation,” VACC Chairman Dante Jimenez told the press.