Last Friday, the President once again spoke to the nation with regards to the bloody Mamasapano incident that took the lives of forty-four SAF commandos. This time, he spoke on the issue of suspended PNP Director General Alan Purisima's resignation, which has been making the news as of late. He has accepted the general's resignation, after praising him for his many years of service in the force. It is no secret that the President and Gen. Purisima are good friends. Aside from Purisima's resignation, the President also claimed full responsibility for the botched mission in Mamasapano. The buck stops here, as they say. As the country's leader, he takes both the good and the bad.
But while the President has taken full responsibility for the debacle, his good friend is going the opposite direction. Gen. Purisima is now washing his hands clean of the operation. According to him, he only provided intelligence on the targets, but did not have anything to do with the actual execution of the mission. He did not give the green light, nor was he involved in anything else. He is actually putting everything on the ground commander, Gen. Getulio Napeñas, the SAF commander. He also claims, that like both DILG Sec. Roxas and PNP OIC Gen. Espina, he only knew about the mission when it was well underway. This is where eyebrows are fully raised. According to Gen. Napeñas, Gen. Purisima knew everything, and even told him not to inform both the Secretary and the General about the mission.
Right now, it seems the blame game is well underway, with Gen. Napeñas getting the short end of the stick. It would be interesting to know the sentiment of the SAF commandos, along with that of the relatives of the Fallen 44, as to Purisima's resignation and denial of command responsibility. Are they satisfied with his resignation and statements? Do they help alleviate the pain, or do they only stoke the flames even more? It really does not help that all this is coming out two weeks since the debacle. Only now is he officially offering his sympathies to the families of the Fallen 44. Being a former SAF himself, one would expect him to be one of the first to condole with the families, suspended or not. And does his resignation absolve him of any wrongdoing? And if he did nothing wrong, why even resign?
Gen. Purisima has confirmed his attendance at today's Senate hearing on the Mamasapano debacle. I'm sure many are eager to hear what he has to say. But if the past interviews that he has given to the media are any indication, we expect him to continue washing his hands. Definitely much to the chagrin of the likes of Sen. Grace Poe, who already knows what it is like to listen to Gen. Purisima.