VERA Files
(Conclusion)
It was no accident that it was the Special Action Force of the
Philippine National Police that penetrated the Batasan Pambansa and
stuffed the ballot boxes with fake election returns to make it look
like Gloria Arroyo won the 2004 elections.
Established in 1983 initially to help combat insurgency and later to
"destroy enemy forces that undermine the nation's stability," the
police commandos are trained as a rapid deployment force and to
"noiselessly operate in the shadows."
In its 25-year history, the elite unit has not been impervious to the
country's political upheavals. The SAF joined the February 1986 people
power revolution that followed the defection of its founder, then
Armed Forces vice chief of staff and Philippine
Constabulary-Integrated National Police chief Fidel V. Ramos, and
toppled President Ferdinand Marcos.
But in early 2005, some of the SAF's own members said they undermined
democracy when the unit switched the election returns on orders of
former PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
Ebdane knew fully well and harnessed the unit's commando skills. After
all, he had served as SAF commander from August 1989 to February 1991.
It also helped that the SAF was one of the units securing the House.
Had no one talked, the operation that took place on Jan. 23 and 29 and
the first weekend of February 2005 would have been SAF's secret.
His colleagues describe Chief Supt. Marcelino Franco, who approved the
operation as SAF commander at the time, as a "very serious, principled
and highly professional" officer. But they also said that as a leader,
he can be "very pragmatic."
Franco would later be implicated in the alleged plan of the Marines
and Army Scout Rangers in February 2006 to withdraw support from
Arroyo.
For the complete story, click to:
http://www.verafiles.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment