MANILA
- (UPDATE 4:20 P.M) Former Special Action Force director Getulio Napenas,
sacked over the Mamasapano incident, on Tuesday disputed, through his
lawyer, President Aquino's allegation that he deliberately and repeatedly misled the commander-in-chief on the January 25 mission that saw 44
of his men killed in Maguindanao.
Atty.
Vitaliano Aguirre, counsel for Chief Supt. Napenas, said his client feels
compelled to break his silence. Napenas had shunned media interviews for the
past several weeks, appearing only to explain what happened before inquiries in
the Senate and House of Representatives. On Tuesday, a day after President
Aquino said at a breakfast meeting with Christian leaders that the dismissed
SAF commander had deliberately fed Mr. Aquino the wrong information, Atty.
Aguirre said Napenas wanted to make clear that the President’s statement was
not true – "Hindi totoo,"
the lawyer said on behalf of his client.
Mr.
Aquino on Monday said he was repeatedly lied to by Napenas.
"Maraming
wishful thinking si Napenas as opposed to reality. Pero maliwanag sa akin,
binola niya ako," the
President said. (Napenas has a lot of wishful thoughts opposed to reality. But
it’s clear to me, he led me on.)
Aquino
held Napenas responsible for two things in particular: his failure to
coordinate with the military and higher ups in the police, as supposedly
ordered by the President; and his failure to abort the Mamasapano mission
despite various indications that original operational plans were going amiss.
Markedly
absent in the President's long-winded narrative, however, was an explanation on
why he dealt with suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima for such a major, sensitive
mission, and not with the acting PNP chief, Director Leonardo Espina. Mr.
Aquino merely said he had always dealt with Napenas "through
Purisima" and kept this setup for the January 25 mission.
Napenas
told Senate probers earlier that at the end of a long meeting last January
9 at Bahay Pangarap to which Purisima had brought him along, the suspended
PNP chief instructed him to notify the Armed Forces chief and Interior
Secretary Mar Roxas of the mission once the commandos are on the ground in
Maguindanao.
Purisima
told senators, however, what he gave Napenas was mere "advice", not
necessarily an "order".
On
Tuesday Atty. Aguirre told News5 that he spoke to his
client Monday evening, after the President’s latest statement.
Aguirre said he was given the mandate by Napenas to make clear to the people
that "walang
katotohanan na niloko o binola (ni Napenas) si presidente.” (There
is no truth to the claim that Napenas fooled or deceived the President.)
Aguirre
showed, but declined to give a copy, of a 23-page transcript of text messages
that Napenas had made on January 25, including several exchanges with
Purisima, who had told Senate probers he was in his farm that day and was
merely conveying to the President whatever he got from Napenas.
Palace says no cover-up; repeats 'sins' of Napenas but says not in
blame game
Meanwhile,
Palace officials balked on Tuesday at suggestions to follow-through
on Mr. Aquino’s narrative and charge Napenas for insubordination and for
deceiving the President, thus supposedly ultimately endangering lives of
the SAF men. In a press briefing where he repeated the key allegations Mr.
Aquino made against Napenas, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said
the President merely wanted to give his account of the truth as far as he knew
the details; but they were "not blaming" Napenas for what happened,
Coloma said.
Malacanang
insisted there was no attempt to cover up the truth in the main official
investigation into the Mamasapano debacle, and that President Aquino merely
shared his narrative of the Jan. 25 events to help shed light on the truth and
not to influence the police Board of Inquiry that is set to submit its report
this week.
Briefing reporters, Coloma Jr. said they were not in the blame game - despite Mr. Aquino's harsh denunciation of the actions and judgment calls made by then SAF Director Getulio Napenas, whom the President accused of lying to him about the full details of how the operation was unfolding on the ground that fateful day that cost the lives of 44 police commandos.
Coloma said: "Walang mangyayaring cover-up... whitewash o yellow-wash sa resulta ng imbestigasyon ng Board of Inquiry sa Mamasapano [there's no whitewash or yellow-wash in the BOI investigation of Mamasapano." This, despite the apprehension raised by some lawmakers Monday about the new extension sought by the BOI to turn in its report. The board, chaired by police general Benjamin Magalong, on Monday sought a 72-hour extension, saying the fact-finding team it deployed had just turned in voluminous documents and evidence which the BOI members were still reviewing.
There had been fear in some quarters that the delays of the BOI submission could mean there is an attempt to tweak the BOI findings to make these suit the President's narrative. Coloma denied this, and stressed Tuesday that whatever the President said in his breakfast meeting Monday with a coalition of Christian leaders was not meant to change the BOI findings.
Briefing reporters, Coloma Jr. said they were not in the blame game - despite Mr. Aquino's harsh denunciation of the actions and judgment calls made by then SAF Director Getulio Napenas, whom the President accused of lying to him about the full details of how the operation was unfolding on the ground that fateful day that cost the lives of 44 police commandos.
Coloma said: "Walang mangyayaring cover-up... whitewash o yellow-wash sa resulta ng imbestigasyon ng Board of Inquiry sa Mamasapano [there's no whitewash or yellow-wash in the BOI investigation of Mamasapano." This, despite the apprehension raised by some lawmakers Monday about the new extension sought by the BOI to turn in its report. The board, chaired by police general Benjamin Magalong, on Monday sought a 72-hour extension, saying the fact-finding team it deployed had just turned in voluminous documents and evidence which the BOI members were still reviewing.
There had been fear in some quarters that the delays of the BOI submission could mean there is an attempt to tweak the BOI findings to make these suit the President's narrative. Coloma denied this, and stressed Tuesday that whatever the President said in his breakfast meeting Monday with a coalition of Christian leaders was not meant to change the BOI findings.
In
his lengthy explanation last Monday, Mr. Aquino explained in detail why he
thought then-SAF chief Napenas had made wrong judgment calls in not aborting
the mission on at least three points in the course of the Jan. 25 operation,
and countermanded his earlier directives to work closely with the military and
other concerned parties and units.
However, Mr. Aquino did not explain why he chose to deal with Napenas through a suspended PNP chief - his close buddy Alan Purisima - thus disrupting the chain of command.
At Tuesday's press briefing, Coloma noted the illogic in the apprehensions aired by some quarters: on one hand, there is a fear of a cover-up; and on the other, there are those saying the President is preempting the BOI report with the details he shared last Monday.
Coloma stressed that Aquino had no intention to preempt the BOI report with his remarks at Monday's prayer gathering at Malacanang. He just wanted to share the whole truth based on what he knew so people will understand what happened.
He pointed out the three instances cited by the President where, he thought, Napenas could have aborted the mission and thus prevented the loss of 44 SAF men. He also repeated the President's lament about Napenas's alleged tragic failure to coordinate with the Armed Forces.
Coloma also clarified that the President had no intention to blame Napenas; only to narrate what he knew. In the final analysis, he said, the issue of official culpability will be determined in the BOI and Senate inquiries at the proper time.
The Palace official also made a crucial delineation: while the President had said he bore full responsibility - being the "father of the nation" - for what happened, culpability is a separate matter.
"The primary responsibility of the commander in chief is overall supervision and policy....The execution and tactical decisions moment by moment -- it's possible the operational lapses happened there -- were clearly outside the President's involvement," added Coloma, speaking in Filipino.
Coloma did not explain why the brunt of the blame was heaped on Napenas; and why Mr. Aquino continued to evade making a firm explanation on why he dealt only with the suspended PNP chief for such a big mission. Still, Coloma stressed, the President had no intention to avoid the issue.
The PCOO chief drew reporters' attention to a February 6 briefing where the President had listed the three occasions when Napenas should have called off the operation.
"Yung tungkol sa paliwanang na ginawa ng Pangulo kahapon, hindi naman pangunahing layunin ‘yung pagbubunton ng sisi kanino man. Ipinaliwanag ko na noong February 6, nabanggit ng Pangulo ‘nung tatlong pagkakataon na maaaring mai-abort ‘yung operation at kahapon ay ipinaliwanag niya isa-isa kung ano ‘yung mga tatlong pagkakataon na ‘yon," Coloma said.
As for the matter of Purisima's accountability, "in my view that will come out in the Senate probers in their report as well as that of the BOI," said Coloma, speaking in Filipino.
He stressed that Napenas had a full opportunity to explain his side during the four Senate hearings.
However, Mr. Aquino did not explain why he chose to deal with Napenas through a suspended PNP chief - his close buddy Alan Purisima - thus disrupting the chain of command.
At Tuesday's press briefing, Coloma noted the illogic in the apprehensions aired by some quarters: on one hand, there is a fear of a cover-up; and on the other, there are those saying the President is preempting the BOI report with the details he shared last Monday.
Coloma stressed that Aquino had no intention to preempt the BOI report with his remarks at Monday's prayer gathering at Malacanang. He just wanted to share the whole truth based on what he knew so people will understand what happened.
He pointed out the three instances cited by the President where, he thought, Napenas could have aborted the mission and thus prevented the loss of 44 SAF men. He also repeated the President's lament about Napenas's alleged tragic failure to coordinate with the Armed Forces.
Coloma also clarified that the President had no intention to blame Napenas; only to narrate what he knew. In the final analysis, he said, the issue of official culpability will be determined in the BOI and Senate inquiries at the proper time.
The Palace official also made a crucial delineation: while the President had said he bore full responsibility - being the "father of the nation" - for what happened, culpability is a separate matter.
"The primary responsibility of the commander in chief is overall supervision and policy....The execution and tactical decisions moment by moment -- it's possible the operational lapses happened there -- were clearly outside the President's involvement," added Coloma, speaking in Filipino.
Coloma did not explain why the brunt of the blame was heaped on Napenas; and why Mr. Aquino continued to evade making a firm explanation on why he dealt only with the suspended PNP chief for such a big mission. Still, Coloma stressed, the President had no intention to avoid the issue.
The PCOO chief drew reporters' attention to a February 6 briefing where the President had listed the three occasions when Napenas should have called off the operation.
"Yung tungkol sa paliwanang na ginawa ng Pangulo kahapon, hindi naman pangunahing layunin ‘yung pagbubunton ng sisi kanino man. Ipinaliwanag ko na noong February 6, nabanggit ng Pangulo ‘nung tatlong pagkakataon na maaaring mai-abort ‘yung operation at kahapon ay ipinaliwanag niya isa-isa kung ano ‘yung mga tatlong pagkakataon na ‘yon," Coloma said.
As for the matter of Purisima's accountability, "in my view that will come out in the Senate probers in their report as well as that of the BOI," said Coloma, speaking in Filipino.
He stressed that Napenas had a full opportunity to explain his side during the four Senate hearings.
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