As the investigation trudges on to get to the bottom of the January 25 Mamasapano ambush where 44 of our young and brave members of the country’s elite force were slaughtered by foreign- supported elements demanding peace on their terms, things are getting clearer that this good-for-nothing government was principally acting to protect the security interest of the US, with his eyes focused on the Nobel Peace Prize to spruce up his image as a political dud.
Indeed, the country is in such sad state of affairs. We have a President who does not know what he is supposed to do, and worse, he capitalizes on his ignorance to evade responsibility. He is even claiming good faith not knowing that it is least applicable to him for if he does not know what it takes to be President, then for God’s sake, he has no business sitting there even for a minute. This we say because our policemen were not forewarned they would be walking straight into the viper’s nest to protect the interest of a foreign government through their stooge who does not even understand what command responsibility is.
Of course, it is easy for the FBI to deny involvement in the planning or execution of Oplan Exodus. But what the US State Department cannot deny is it was the reward of $5 million that led to the hatching of Oplan Exodus with those 44 members of the Special Action Force entrapped to be butchered and their bodies desecrated by those coddled by the very government interested in getting a Malaysian bomb-expert and a local member-turned- terrorist.
No doubt, the US and the Philippines have parallel interests in wanting to get the two terrorists. However, what makes our case miserably pathetic is that the US is now washing its hands of the issue even if it was apparent that PNoy, suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima and SAF chief director Getulio Napeñas were coordinating with US authorities. The opportunity of wanting to get the Nobel Peace Prize and in bagging the two terrorists was too tempting. But with the crescendo of denunciation for the botched arrest, PNoy now tries to evade responsibility by letting his trusted lieutenants do the talking such that both Napeñas and Purisima now appear more like stupid clowns that could no longer draw laughter from our people.
The explanation given by Napeñas has all the more pinned down his boss. He failed to digress that his claim of PNoy having given his “tacit” approval of Oplan Exodus constitutes an admission that PNoy had prior knowledge of the operation. Malacañang’s alibi that his presence in Zamboanga was a mere coincidence does not make sense because the US has a clandestine military base there where he played Nintendo. Our people saw on video the helicopter manned by a Caucasian pilot with white passengers at the scene of the firefight, indicating—and clearly —deep US involvement in the operations.
We must not forget that the arrest of wanted international terrorists is not covered by our existing defense agreement with the US. The country’s liaison with the US on wanted fugitives only pertains to the exchange of intelligence information as to their whereabouts and for the alleged crimes attributed to them, but that the operation to secure their arrest remains exclusive to us. Moreover, if those arrested terrorists have violated our laws, they should first be tried and punished here. Only after serving sentence can they be extradited to countries where we have an existing extradition treaty.
To avoid complication, PNoy tried to compartmentalize the operation by placing a cordon sanitaire on the Secretary of Local Government Manuel Roxas which has direct supervision and control of the PNP, and on acting PNP chief Leonardo Espina. But for the fact that the operations unexpectedly hit a snag, he now wants to pass on the ball to others. It was telling that PNoy himself broke the “line of authority”, unaware in by-passing the two key officials, he in effect is taking a direct hand in the operations.
PNoy cannot now toss back that responsibility to people he wants to sacrifice on the altar for his stupidity. This explains why the SAF chief had difficulty presenting his cluttered version of what happened like telling the Senate investigation committee that PNoy only had half-baked information of the operations, while admitting that he and Purisima were directly in touch with him.
As if to atone the grieving sentiments of the family of those killed, Napeñas came out with a fiction story that despite being heavily outgunned and surrounded, our fallen heroes still managed to kill an estimated 250 MILF rebels, and the one who killed Marwan, whom he described as highly trained still managed to get five of Marwan’s own bodyguards. But who will believe him when there is nobody to support his belated claim of heroism?
To reiterate, the debacle could have been avoided had PNoy conveyed the intelligence information furnished him by the FBI to the Philippine panel, and ordered it to formally request the MILF the surrender of Marwan and Usman. Had that procedure been observed, that could have equally put to a test the sincerity of the MILF. Sad to say, our stupid panel could not even digress why the MILF and its so-called breakaway group BIFF were encamped in the same area with the members of the two armed groups, including the two wanted terrorists, freely mingling with each other. In fact, not a whimper of protest was raised, like asking about the presence of BIFF commander Ameril Umbra Kato whose armed men were almost indistinguishable from the MILF.
Rather, Miriam Ferrer, Luisito Martin Gascon and Teresita Deles became more eager in wanting their pact with the devil ratified the soonest possible time. They even went to Kuala Lumpur to pay homage to the brokers of the rebels by signing the so-called “decommissioning of arms” when they even failed to demand the same from the MILF the surrender the arms taken from the policemen they killed. To make matters worse, they made the hajj to Malaysia while the nation was still mourning the death of the 44 SAF members. Had our stupid panel carried out their assignment during the negotiations, bloodbath could have been averted, and they could also have earned their merit for bringing peace to our troubled land.
Right now, the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) stands as a document of betrayal that is drenched with the blood of our people. By their cry of giving peace a chance by ratifying that perfidious document, our people are beginning to wonder whether our panel is in fact serving as fifth column for our enemies. At this point, the MILF and its proxy hitman, BIFF, are laughing at how we have made a circus out of the stupidity of our leaders.
rpkapunan@gmail.com
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