SAF mission a success – Napeñas

MANILA, Philippines - Relieved Philippine National Police Special Action Force chief Director Getulio Napeñas insisted yesterday that the SAF’s operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25 was “a success.”

“People are forgetting that our mission was a success because we got our principal target, though at a huge cost on our part,” Napeñas said in a television interview.

He was referring to Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bir Hir, alias Marwan, whom SAF troopers killed. Two other targets, Amin Baco, another suspected Malaysian terrorist, and Marwan’s Filipino associate Abdul Basit Usman escaped.

SAF lost 44 men in clashes with guerillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its breakaway faction Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). Eighteen guerillas and five civilians also died in the fighting.

Napeñas said he and his officers and men expected to receive words of praise for accomplishing their mission.

However, he lamented that what they are getting are criticisms for the loss of lives and the allegedly poor planning and handling of their operation.

He said while he is taking his share of responsibility for the lapses, “higher officials” should also take their share.

He did not name who these officials are.

The PNP Board of Inquiry (BOI) has blamed suspended PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima and Napeñas for the botched SAF operation in Mamasapano.

The BOI also said President Aquino approved SAF’s operational plan to capture Marwan, Baco and Usman.

Suicide mission

The BOI finding that Napeñas did not have an “abort option” for his commandos prompted two congressmen to accuse him of effectively sending them on a suicide mission.

“This means that Director Napeñas did not have a plan to call off or discontinue their operation and withdraw from their target area if expected or anticipated conditions changed when the mission was carried out,” Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite said.

“If you don’t want your men to withdraw if the situation in the battlefield changes, and in the face of an overwhelming enemy force, you want to let them die,” he said.

He said conditions on the ground in Mamasapano turned out to be different from what Napeñas and his senior officers anticipated.

He noted that another BOI finding was that SAF officers had planned that their operation would be launched and completed before sunrise on Jan. 25, but that it spilled over to daytime.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said having no abort criteria is equivalent to having no option to discontinue or abandon the Mamasapano operation.

“Director Napeñas admitted to the BOI that he told his officers and men that there were no abort criteria, impressing upon them that they had to carry out their mission, to use the language of the BOI, ‘at all cost’,” he said.

He pointed out that based on Napeñas’ affidavit given to the BOI, the then SAF chief was disgusted and angry that two of the operations SAF conducted jointly with the military in Maguindanao yielded negative results due to what he suspected were leaks on the part of the military.

This prompted SAF to conduct two solo missions, which likewise failed to catch the three targets, he added.

“Given this context, it was possible, as implied in the BOI report, that Director Napeñas was so hell-bent in getting his targets on Jan. 25 that he sent his men on a do-or-die mission without recourse to withdrawing,” Albano stressed.

He even told his men that the military would provide mechanized, tank and artillery support in case of emergency, giving them the confidence that they would get the help they needed to accomplish their mission, he said.

Albano said President Aquino was right in saying Napeñas should have called off the mission when conditions on the ground changed.

Non-duty status

Meanwhile, Napeñas is considering going on a non-duty status next month in preparation for his retirement in July.

Vitaliano Aguirre III, Napenas’ lawyer, said his client has been on floating status since Jan. 27, or two days after the Mamamasapano operation.

He said going on a non-duty status is allowed in the Philippine National Police.

Napeñas will turn 56 on July 18, the mandatory retirement age for military and police personnel.

“Gen. Napeñas has a very sterling record in his 37 years in the police service… He has no pending cases and he was never engaged in any controversy like this,” said Aguirre.

He said his client is ready to face any charges in connection with the Mamasapano clash.

Man up

As this developed, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said Napeñas should man up and take full responsibility for the Mamasapano debacle.

“Accept that he had made a mistake. He should ask for forgiveness from the relatives of the slain troops because his plan failed. He made poor judgment calls during the firefight and that’s why so many died,” Trillanes said.

He said it was absurd for anyone to say that the President should be held liable for supposedly breaking the chain of command when he dealt directly with Napeñas during the planning stage of the operation. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy