MANILA, Philippines - Suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima will be questioned by the board of inquiry (BOI) regarding his involvement in the botched police operation in Maguindanao last Jan. 25 that left 44 policemen dead.
Sources said Purisima will be asked to detail his role in the planning and operations to capture Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and Basit Usman.
Acting PNP chief Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina said the BOI will speak with Purisima if necessary to get to the bottom of the incident.
Espina added he himself will also be asked by the BOI on his knowledge about the PNP Special Action Forces (SAF) operation in Mamasapano.
“I will also talk to Purisima,” he said. “Even I will be facing the BOI and would be asked about my knowledge over the operation. I will just tell them what I know.”
Espina earlier said he came to know about the Mamasapano operation after the fact.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II also said he was kept out of the loop.
Relieved SAF chief Director Getulio Napenas was said to have been reporting directly to Purisima and President Aquino, cutting out Roxas and Espina.
“I called General Rusty Guerrero to ask for help. I told him our men who were engaged by armed men and based on initial information there were casualties. Gen. Guerrero immediately responded,” Espina added, referring to the Marine commander of the Western Mindanao Command Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero.
The slain police commandos were on a mission to capture one of the world’s most wanted terrorists believed to be hiding in a remote village in Mamasapano.
The mission, however, went awry when the policemen figured in a firefight with separate forces of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Espina also called on the public to give the BOI the chance to look into the incident. He said he could vouch for the integrity of the BOI members.
A day after the incident, Roxas immediately ordered the creation of the BOI to probe the tactical errors committed that led to the deaths of the 44 SAF commandos.
Purisima, on the other hand, reportedly flew to Saipan while the nation was grieving over the “Fallen 44.” Purisima was ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudman last December on corruption charges.
Espina was appointed officer in charge of the PNP during the six-month suspension of Purisima.
Although suspended, Purisima reportedly still enjoys support from top ranking PNP officials.
On the other hand, a group of senior police officers urged President Aquino to appoint a full time chief of the PNP to put an end to the so-called two chains of command in the national police force.
Tomas Rentoy, chairman of the board of the PNP Academy Alumni Association Inc., said the President can restore unity in the PNP by appointing a full-time chief amid the Mamasapano fiasco.
In Pangasinan, not Saipan
A former local town official has claimed Purisima is in the country, not in Saipan as earlier reported.
Rod ER Mina, former vice mayor of Villasis, said Purisima attended a gathering in this city last Saturday.
Mina posted several photos on Facebook showing Purisima attending the Freemason’s 22nd Public Installation of Officers at the Urdaneta Lodge on Jan. 31
He said Purisima had lunch at Matutina’s Restaurant in this city and came 30 minutes early for the occasion where officers of the Free Masons, which local chapter the police official heads, took their oath.– With Eva Visperas