EDITORIAL - Lessons from a raid

Most of the details contained in the 120-page report of the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry on the commando raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao have been reported in the past weeks. But the BOI report did present interesting findings and conclusions. One is that there is a chain of command even in a civilian police force, and it was broken in the Mamasapano raid on Jan. 25, with tragic consequences.

Another intriguing conclusion is that President Aquino himself broke the chain of command and allowed a suspended PNP chief, Director General Alan Purisima, to take on something more than an advisory role in such a high-risk operation to get top terrorists.

The raid by the PNP Special Action Force offers many lessons particularly for the President and commander-in-chief. Military forces, according to the BOI report, failed to provide timely reinforcement because of inaccurate information, a seeming lack of urgency on the part of the PNP, and considerations about the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Among the BOI recommendations that should prove easy to implement is an upgrade in PNP equipment and supplies. Some of the ordnance for the SAF team’s M203 grenade launchers turned out to be duds. Their handheld Motorola radios conked out when submerged in water and were not designed for military-type combat operations, and the beleaguered SAF members were cut off, the BOI reported.

The tricky problem is how to deal with a president and a PNP chief who both ignore a suspension order by the Office of the Ombudsman in carrying out a high-risk counterterrorism operation. A board recommendation that also poses a challenge is filing criminal charges not only against the PNP officials involved in the operation but also against MILF members who executed several wounded SAF commandos.

Perhaps the PNP had reason to keep Operation Plan Exodus from the military until the last moment when its help was needed against the MILF and its cousins in the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. But keeping the PNP officer-in-charge out of the loop contributed to the failure to provide timely reinforcement to the SAF raiders. Combined with what the BOI considered to be lapses in the execution of Exodus, the SAF team was doomed. There are lessons to be learned here, for President Aquino and his security officers. Too bad those lessons can no longer save the 44 SAF commandos.