Noynoy chickens out, with apologies to the chicken
Let us be clear about one thing. Noynoy Aquino is the president and he is the commander-in-chief. As president and as commander-in-chief, Noynoy gets to enjoy many perks and privileges. Among the privileges that Noynoy gets to enjoy as president and as commander-in-chief is to claim credit for any and all things that may go right during his watch, even if none of the dirty work that went into any of these things may be his.
By the same token, Noynoy, as president and as commander-in-chief out to claim responsibility for any and all things that may go wrong under his administration even if none of the dirty work that went into any of these things may be his. Such is the principle of command responsibility. Such is the principle that has driven many world leaders acutely aware of their responsibilities to promptly resign the moment anything goes wrong. Some even go to the extreme of taking their own lives.
Of course we are not asking Noynoy to take that extreme measure. Besides, it is not in the culture and religious belief of Filipinos to do that. But the least that is expected of Noynoy as president and as commander-in-chief is to be man enough, or in the language that he loves very much — na sana magpakatotoong lalake siya — and take the rap for what happened in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 25.
Last January 25, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, a top secret mission was launched by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force against two high value targets, the Malaysian international terrorist called Marwan, who was one of those responsible for the Bali bombings, and his local counterpart called Usman. The raid turned horribly wrong even if Marwan himself was killed.
The SAF commandos were ambushed by a superior number of heavily-armed Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Forty-four of the SAF troopers were killed, with many of them finished off by the moro rebels, their bodies defiled and their personal belongings taken, including cellphones with which the families of the victims were called, mocked and insulted.
The entire nation was shocked, in a manner that it has never been shocked before. A massive outpouring of anger, sympathy and grief spontaneously erupted. Questions that nobody dared to ask before, or necessitated to be asked only now, came begging for answers. But many of the answers lacked truthfulness, understandable in light of the passions that have been stoked or arisen, with many given in the interest of self-preservation than in the interest of truth.
In such a time of great crisis and uncertainty, when an entire nation has been thrust into a crossroads and are at a loss on how to proceed, it would have been of great help to have a strong and reassuring president and commander-in-chief who can lead the way not only with his wisdom but by means of showing an example. But such a leader is nowhere to be seen. Noynoy, for all the loftiness of his title as president and commander-in-chief, has shown himself to be a wimp.
First it took him three days from the time of the incident to emerge from where he had holed himself up to say anything. And then he said nothing. Then, when the bodies of the slain 44 SAF heroes arrived at Villamor Air Base in their flag-draped coffins, Noynoy was again nowhere to be there for his fallen men. Instead the car-loving president and commander-in-chief was seen in news footages smiling and having the time of his life inspecting a new foreign-owned car manufacturing plant.
Noynoy tried to make up for the snafu by promising to be at the necrological rites. But he showed up 30 minutes late. So disgusted were the family members of the slain SAF troopers that some of them then not take the medals of honor he gave them, prompting him to just place the medals on top of the coffins. And when he addressed a gathering of SAF troopers and asked if they had anything to say, they just looked blankly ahead and said nothing. Noynoy had to leave in shame.
And now Noynoy has made himself scarce again, letting his underlings do the damage control for him. And boy, how these underlings have shamelessly taken up the cudgels for him, even to the extent of assigning all the blame to the SAF operations commander, General Getulio Napeñas, who like a true officer and gentleman took all the assigned blame willingly instead of passing the buck on to Noynoy where it rightfully belonged.
Let us also be clear about another thing. There were only three major players who knew of Oplan Exodus, the name of the top secret mission to get Marwan and Usman. There was Noynoy himself, because he was the president and the commander-in-chief, and the mission was to be in territory controlled by the MILF with whom the Aquino government is talking peace. There naturally was Napeñas, who was to oversee the mission. And there was, surprisingly, the suspended PNP chief, Alan Purisima.
It is surprising because Purisima at the time was under suspension. The PNP acting chief was General Leonardo Espina. By keeping Espina out and taking Purisima in, Noynoy broke the chain of command that he, as commander-in-chief, should be the first to respect and observe. But more than the chain of command, the blood of all those who died is on Noynoy's hands. Of the three who knew of the mission from planning to execution, the buck has to stop with the president and commander-in-chief.
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