The buck stops with President Aquino. He is ultimately responsible for the deaths of 44 police commandos during “Oplan Exodus” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
This was the gist of what Senator Grace Poe said in the joint committee report after five hearings and five executive sessions. Poe is chairperson of the committee on public order.
The Senate report echoed what the Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry said in its report that the President broke the PNP chain of command. He made his best friend, resigned police chief Alan Purisima who was under suspension at that time, call the shots on “Oplan Exodus”. The plan was hatched to neutralize terrorists being coddled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Neither the Senate report nor the BOI report, however, identifies what the liability of the President was as commander-in-chief of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The AFP failed, according to reports, to reinforce the beleaguered police commandos.
Under normal circumstances, the President could be impeached. But not now when both chamber of Congress are dominated by lackeys and lapdogs of Malacanang.
Well, we know now who should be held accountable for the slaughter of the Fallen 44. As for justice -- well, we may never get it. The Moro rebels are not willing to surrender their members who slaughtered the police commandos to face their crimes.
President Aquino has lost the approval and trust of his bosses, said Pulse Asia in its recent survey.
And if he still does not say he is sorry, and instead maintains his lies that other people are to blame for what happened in Mamasapano, then he could go down in history as the biggest liar the country has ever had for a president.
***
Another big lie that has been found out by the Senate report is American participation in “Oplan Exodus.” The American Embassy has been denying it.
The Senate report was clear that the intelligence on the whereabouts of Malaysian terrorist Marwan and Filipino terrorist Abdul Basit Usman was provided by the Americans. And it was also discovered that a group of Americans was trained somewhere in Zamboanga City in connection with “Oplan Exodus”.
The very fact that the finger of terrorist Marwan was cut off and then sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for identification shows that the Americans were involved all the time. My gulay, the Americans were there with Napenas in his holdout when the “time on target” mission began. Even the sophisticated equipment of the PNP-SAF came from the Americans. Why do you think the Americans were there immediately in Mamasapano?
* * *
The reactions of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales to the Court of Appeals TRO on the suspension of Makati Mayor JunJun Binay are clear examples of how people in power regard the rule of law.
They claim that since the TRO against Binay’s 60-day suspension came in the afternoon, it was already moot and academic. Vice Mayor Romulo Pena Jr. had already taken his oath of office as acting mayor at that time. Ergo, they say, the TRO failed to restrain Binay’s suspension and effectively made Pena the acting mayor.
I don’t know what convulated thinking Roxas and the Ombudsman have. Is the rule of law now a matter of coming first? A TRO is a TRO restraining abuse or an illegal act.
It is good that Mayor Binay has sought contempt charges before the Appellate Court against the defiance of Roxas and chiefs of police that made some 2,500 fully-armed policemen surround Makati City Hall.
What Roxas and Morales, and even Justice Secretary Leila De Lima (who later opined that Binay was still under suspension), said was dangerous as a precedent nullifying a TRO. This defiance of a court order can only happen under the Aquino government which has no regard for the rule of law in an effort to demonize its political enemies and the opposition.
* * *
The Bureau of Immigration has dismissed deportation complaints against business executive Joseph C. Sy, and upheld his Filipino citizenship in a recent decision approved unanimously by the three Immigration commissioners.
In their order dismissing the complaint, the three commissioners said that Sy did not merely rely on the presumption of validity of his birth certificate as a Filipino. He also submitted other documents to substantially establish his Philippine citizenship.
The three Immigration commissioners were Siegfred Mison (chairman), Gilberto Repizo and Abdullah Mangotara. The order was approved on February 20, 2015, affirming a smiliar conclusion by the members of the Board of Special Inquiry of the bureau after evaluation of evidence.
The order said that under Section 37 of Republic Act 2711, only aliens can be subject to deportation proceedings.
The order also cited a previous Supreme Court decision (Chua Hiong vs. Deportation Board) that a citizen is entitled to “live in peace, without molestation from any official or authority, and if he is disturbed by a deportation proceeding, he has the unquestionable right to resort to the courts for protection.”
Joseph Sy is president of Platinum Group of Metals Corp. and Ferrochrome Resources Inc., and is a board director of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Upon receipt of a copy of the BI order, PCCI Chairman Miguel Varela said that the PCCI welcomed the immigration order, congratulating Sy, and adding that the chamber never doubted Sy’s Filipino citizenship.
The deportation complaint was triggered by an anonymous letter filed in April 2014 that imputed criminal and administration violations allegedly committed by Sy.
No comments:
Post a Comment