{"id":45071,"date":"2015-03-18T03:39:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T19:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=45071"},"modified":"2025-01-18T20:27:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T01:27:39","slug":"senate-finds-mamasapano-incident-a-clear-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/03\/18\/senate-finds-mamasapano-incident-a-clear-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate finds Mamasapano incident a clear \u2018massacre\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Senator<\/a>
Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, holds a copy of the Senate Committee Report on the Mamasapano Incident Investigation during a press conference on Tuesday (March 17, 2015) at the Senate Bldg. in Pasay City (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA \u2013 Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday released a committee report which found the Mamasapano incident as a clear \u2018massacre\u2019 that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos dead last Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.<\/p>\n

The Mamasapano incident is clearly a \u201cmassacre,\u201d not simply a so-called \u201cencounter\u201d or \u201cmisencounter,\u201d Poe said in a press briefing where she showed to the media a 120-page report of 5 public hearings, 5 executive sessions and 73 hours of full discussion attended by 37 resource persons in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Poe, chairperson of the public order, said \u2018concerned members\u2019 of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and other armed groups have murdered and robbed the 44 SAF commandos.<\/p>\n

\u201dSurvivors recount how their companies were surrounded and decimated \u2013 even wounded SAF soldiers were fired upon,\u201d Poe said in the executive summary of the report.<\/p>\n

Poe said the assailants cannot validly claim that its fighters acted in self-defense because of the absence of the element of unlawful aggression on the part of the SAF troopers.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe MILF\u2019s claim of self-defense is, therefore, unavailing,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

Although the Senate leaves the responsibility of identifying the particular assailants to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Poe said the murder and frustrated murder chargers \u2018may be instituted against the MILF fighters as well as the BIFF and other armed groups involved in the massacre of the SAF 44.<\/p>\n

Poe said former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Alan Purisima committed \u201cusurpation of authority or official functions,\u201d violating Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code when he involved himself in the Oplan Exodus despite his preventive suspension by the Ombudsman.<\/p>\n

\u201dIn addition, an administrative complaint may be filed with the Ombudsman against Purisima for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

As for former SAF Chief Getulio Napenas, Poe said the relieved SAF official committed \u201cgrave misconduct, inefficiency and incompetence in the performance of official duties and for conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service\u201d under the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in Civil Service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poe said President Benigno Aquino III \u201cmust bear responsibility for giving assent to and failing to prevent the unlawful exercise of the official functions by Purisima.<\/p>\n

\u201dAs to the President, he is ultimately responsible for the outcome of the Mamasapano mission,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

\u201dHe assented to Purisima\u2019s unlawful exercise of official functions, particularly the latter\u2019s \u201cusurpation of authority or official functions,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Under the committee report, Poe said the President must \u201cdisplay unquestionable leadership, be forthright and candid with our people, accept the responsibility for decisions made, and mistakes perhaps, along the way. Nobody is infallible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201d The President and other high-ranking government officials, could have done more under the circumstances to prevent or minimize the number of deaths that jolted the nation,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

Poe said had the President and key security officials who were with him in Zamboanga City, discussed the incident and shared information clearly and openly in the early stages of the tragic day, coordination between the Army and the PNP might have been hastened and fewer lives could have been lost.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

The President was with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas, National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, acting PNP Chief Leonardo Espina, and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) General Pio Catapang in Zamboanga in the morning of January 25.<\/p>\n

\u201dSince he was familiar with the plan, the President might have stepped in and displayed stronger positioning leadership regarding the rescue operations if he was given the proper information,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

\u201dAs Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the President wields great power and has vast resources at his disposal. The decision of the President and his men not to use those resources immediately to prevent the carnage must be explained,\u201d Poe added.<\/p>\n

The lady lawmaker said there were indications that the planning and execution of the botched mission \u201cwere not 100-percent Filipino-planned and implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dUS personnel played a role in the training for and monitoring of the said operation,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe Committees found that the United States substantially invested in the entirety of Oplan Exodus. They provided equipment, training and intelligence. However, this raises the question of whether the PNP leadership would have entered into such a risky and hazardous operation without the support of the United States and the million reward offered for Marwan\u2019s capture,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

The Senate panel also recommended that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) should pursue peace with justice.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe peace that we seek must be based on justice, where the rule of law reigns supreme, and where violators are brought before the bar of justice. The blood and heroism of the SAF 44 must not be dis-honored. Our people will accept no less,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Poe said the 120-page committee report has yet to be signed by the other senators.<\/p>\n

\u201dOther senators may introduce amendments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Senator Ralph Recto commended Poe\u2019s report, saying the lady lawmaker \u2018correctly pointed out when the command structure fractured.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dMy first impression is that it, the report , is FPJ \u2013 fair perceptive and judicious,\u201d Recto said, adopting the monicker of Poe\u2019s father, the late movie actor FPJ or Fernando Poe Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA \u2013 Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday released a committee report which found the Mamasapano incident as a clear \u2018massacre\u2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":45079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95,483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","category-politics","mauthors-jelly-f-musico","mauthors-philippines-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285572,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45071\/revisions\/285572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}