MANILA, Philippines —
Top security officials, who asked not be named, said the BOI report was a mere elaboration of what the public already knew about the Mamasapano incident.
They said the BOI, as a fact-finding body, should have focused on determining the real purpose of the President’s visit to Zamboanga City, supposedly to assess the damaged caused by an explosion that killed two people and wounded 52 others.
“The BOI report is just an amplification of publicly known facts. The probers appeared to have evaded the President’s visit to Zamboanga,” one of the security officials said.
In its report, the BOI admitted that the body failed to look into the presence of Aquino in Zamboanga City due to lack of access.
There were unconfirmed reports that Aquino was monitoring the Mamasapano operation from Zamboanga City.
“The board could have come up with an honest-to-goodness report on the Mamasapano incident had they included in their efforts to determine the presence of the President as well as his defense, military and police officials in Zamboanga City,” another security official said.
According to the security officials, the BOI limited the President’s supposed liability in Oplan Exodus to breaking the PNP chain of command when he allowed suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima to take part in the high-level anti-terror operation.
The BOI said Purisima provided inaccurate information to the Aquino while then SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas committed lapses in implementing the operation and erred in taking orders from a suspended superior.
The report said the Chief Executive violated the PNP chain of command when he “exercised his prerogative” by directly dealing with Napeñas instead of with PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina before and during the SAF operation.
Supporters of suspended SAF chief Napeñas were dissatisfied with the BOI report on the Mamasapano clash.
Napenas’ spokesman Lexy Victore said the BOI failed to summon other key players involved in the botched police operation.
Victore said there was cover-up in the report.
Retired police Chief Superintendent Tomas Rentoy III, chairman of the PNP Academy Alumni Association Inc., said they are satisfied with the BOI report but this will be subjected to a thorough study by their legal counsel.
Meanwhile, the military leadership is mum over the reported non-cooperation of Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang with the probe body.
‘Same intel sources’
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano yesterday dared members of the government peace panel to disprove his claims that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was harboring high-value terrorists instead of engaging in squid tactics.
Cayetano made the statement after members of the peace panel criticized him for saying that the MILF protected Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, before he was killed by SAF commandos in Mamapasano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25.
Members of the peace panel said the senator’s allegations should be verified first by the security agencies.
Cayetano said that all the information he has came from the police and military, the same sources of intelligence available to the peace panel.
He said that during the Senate’s hearings on the Mamasapano clash, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said that the peace panel has updated intelligence about the presence of terrorists, insurgents and their camps and that these were from the military and the police.
Cayetano said that the e-mails that he presented during his privilege speech earlier this week between Marwan and his brother regarding the protection being given to the former by MILF commander Wahid Tundok were used by prosecutors in the United States.
“These are all factual. Why won’t they open their eyes and look at this?” Cayetano said.
“The most important question is, was I telling the truth? If I was lying and all the materials I presented were not true, the peace panel should have said it outright,” he added.
Instead of engaging in what he described as squid tactics, Cayetano said the peace panel should just address the issues that he has raised about the MILF.
Cayetano said Marwan was not only being coddled by the MILF, but the group had arms build-up and links to terror groups al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. – With Marvin Sy, Robertzon Ramirez