House probe on Mamasapano incident postponed temporarily while waiting for BOI report

(L-R) Acting PNP Chief Leandro Espina, DILG Sec. Mar Roxas, Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, Justice Sec. Leila De Lima, and former PNP Chief Gen. Alan Purisima on Thursday’s (Feb 12, 2015) Senate hearing on the Mamasapano clash (Photo courtesy of Sen. Grace Poe’s Facebook page)

MANILA — The House of Representatives leadership decided on Monday to postpone temporarily the hearing on the Mamasapano incident and wait for the final report of the Bureau of Inquiry (BOI) of the Philippine National Police.

This was revealed on Monday by House Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II after getting the consensus of the chairmen of the House Committees on Public Order and Safety chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer and Peace, Unification and Unity chaired by Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman.

“Speaker [Feliciano] Belmonte Jr., the two chairmen and me have decided to temporarily defer the congressional hearing on Mamasapano and wait for the BOI report,” Gonzales told his colleagues at the plenary when asked by Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and ABAKADA Party-list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz during the session.

The two committees are investigating what went wrong in the Mamasapano clash which claimed the lives of 44 PNP-Special Action Force (SAF) commandos.

Hataman-Salliman said in a separate interview with House reporters that the joint investigation is indefinitely suspended pending the Board of Inquiry report on the incident.

When asked when they will reconvene, the panel co-chairman said he is not privy to reveal the exact date because the ball is now in the hands of BOI.