Noy not liable – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Command responsibility does not apply, and President Aquino cannot be tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a police operation that led to the deaths of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos in Maguindanao, Malacañang said yesterday. The Palace was reacting to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s pronouncement last Monday that on the basis of command responsibility, Aquino may be made to face the ICC for the SAF operation in Mamasapano town that went awry.

“Regarding that comment, we agree with Senate President Franklin Drilon’s statement,” Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said, referring to the senator’s assertion made before reporters Monday that command responsibility does not apply in the Mamasapano incident because arresting a fugitive is not a crime.

“Under the Rome Statute, command responsibility will apply if the superior, knowing his subordinates will commit a crime, fails to stop the commission of the crime, or knowing that his subordinates committed a crime, fails to punish them,” Coloma said, quoting Drilon’s remarks to reporters.

“It’s very clear that the SAF launched the operation not to commit a crime but to enforce the law,” Coloma, chief of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, said in Filipino.

He declined to comment on some lawmakers’ statements that President Aquino may be summoned by investigating bodies to shed light on the SAF operation.

“I haven’t directly asked the President about it. Right from the very beginning, the President has been sharing what he knows about the incident,” Coloma said.

Fighting erupted before dawn on Jan. 25 when SAF commandos leaving Mamasapano after killing a man believed to be Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, encountered fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The MILF dismissed the 10-hour clashes as a “misencounter.”

Aquino admitted prior knowledge of the manhunt, but said the SAF chief had observed “very minimum compliance” with his directive for proper coordination.

He said suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima had coordinated with him on the operation, but only before the police chief’s suspension last December.

Taking a cue from Santiago, human rights groups and people’s organizations are preparing to file a complaint against Aquino before the International People’s Tribunal for the Mamasapano incident and other alleged human rights violations under his administration.

This was according to Elmer Labog, chairman of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS-Phils).

He said the President should be made to answer for the Mamasapano tragedy before a court of “unquestionable integrity.”

Labog said the International People’s Tribunal is set to convene in Washington in July.

He said details have not yet been announced but several victims of militarization, people’s organizations and rights advocates have expressed interest in filing criminal cases against Aquino.

“President Aquino should be made answerable for these deaths and renewed violence not only on combatants but to innocent children as well,” Labog added.

He said Aquino intentionally did not coordinate with the MILF, despite mechanisms in place to avoid hostilities such as the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) and the International Monitoring Team (IMT).

“Aquino willfully did not coordinate with the military under his command and even his own Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who heads the police force,” Labog said.

“Relieved SAF chief Police Director Getulio Napeñas became the unfortunate fall-guy and took all the blame,” he pointed out.

Broken chain of command

As commander-in-chief, Aquino broke the chain of command in his handling of the SAF operation targeting Marwan and local cohort Basit Usman, former President Fidel Ramos said yesterday.

He said the President should accept responsibility for the covert operation that triggered clashes with the MILF that left dozens of people dead, including 44 SAF commandos and 18 on the MILF side.

Ramos, who founded the SAF when he was constabulary chief during the Marcos regime, said that while there was nothing wrong with Aquino giving the suspended Purisima the task of leading the operation, he should have at least notified PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director Leonardo Espina and Armed Forces chief Gen. Pio Catapang to keep the chain of command intact.

“As commander-in-chief, not as President, yes, he broke the chain of command. He communicated with people not in the chain of command. As commander-in-chief, the secretaries of the departments are your alter egos but they are not in the chain of command,” Ramos told ANC News.

“It (chain of command) is from him, chief of staff of the Armed Forces and then here the PNP... the two must be together in an operation as big as this one and they are joined together at one point, at the top, the commander-in-chief. There is a lapse there at the very top,” he said.

Asked if the President can be held liable for breaking the chain of command, Ramos said: “Yes, in the sense that no one else could do the things that he is empowered to do under our Constitution.”

He said “liability cannot be passed on to a lower official or officer.”

As commander-in-chief, Aquino “must answer for that lapse in the loop of the chain of command,” Ramos said.

He also urged Aquino to support the formation of a truth commission so there would be just one independent body to conduct an investigation into the incident.

Ramos also said critics should stop linking the US to the failed operation. He said the US government has been assisting the country in its efforts to weed out terrorism.

Roxas puzzle

Meanwhile, a former military intelligence officer who declined to be named said it was impossible for Roxas not to have learned about the operation targeting Marwan and Usman given the length of time the government had planned it.

The former intelligence official, who had spearheaded various intelligence operations to arrest terror suspects and leaders of rebel groups, said there are clear and established procedures in hunting high-value targets. Such procedures involve the president and the Cabinet secretary involved, in this case, Roxas.

Malacañang and officials of the PNP earlier admitted that “Oplan Wolverine” to arrest Usman and Marwan, who carries a $5-million bounty on his head, took several months to at least two years to plan.

In Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, the police chief had his head shaved as demonstration of “respect, sympathy and call for truth and justice for the _#_Fallen44.”

“To my underclassmen, fellow PNP SAF commando and fellow law enforcers who made the greatest sacrifice so that others might live in peace, please accept my simple act of respect, sympathy and call for truth and justice to your deaths,” Chief Inspector Ryan Manongdo, also a member of SAF, posted on his Facebook account. He also posted a photo of himself with his new look.

Chief Inspector Rex Infante, Mangatarem police chief, also had his head shaved, along with his men.

“Rest in peace and may God bless the nation you fought for,” Manongdo said in his FB post.

Manongdo was class president of Philippine National Police Academy Marangal 2005.

“It was a simple act of showing we really feel what they are feeling right now,” he told Bombo Radyo Dagupan.

In Mangatarem Municipal Police Station, some police members also had their heads shaved to show sympathy for their fallen comrades.

“We unite to improve our services, not only in expressing our sympathies and we are inspired by the heroism made by the SAF members,” Infante said.

Two of the 44 Fallen SAF members were from Pangasinan, namely Police Officers 2 Ephraim Mejia of San Nicolas and Romeo Senin II of San Fabian town. Paolo Romero, Eva Visperas, Mayen Jaymalin