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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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MANILA – Even former senator Sergio Osmeña III has “unanswered questions” with regards the botched Mamasapano mission, which killed 44 police commandos.
Osmeña expressed support for the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to reopen the investigation on the January 2015 encounter between the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
In his keynote address at the Philippine-China Trade and Investment Forum in Beijing, China last week, Duterte said he wanted to know what really happened and who got the P5-million reward for the capture of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.
“He has every right to do that. If he feels that the original investigation did not fulfil all the requirements that he wanted, he has the right to re-open. Ako rin, maraming unanswered questions. We want to find out what happened,” the ex-legislator told Panay News.
The government should ensure that justice is served to the victims and their families, he added.
“Naawa pa ako sa mga pamilya ng 44 SAF soldiers who were massacred.”
Sen. Grace Poe, who previously chaired the committee on public order investigating the Mamasapano, expressed apprehension over the planned SAF probe reopening.
“Unang-una dapat maayos ang layunin, ano ba ang mga katanungan na may kulang pang kasagutan. Pangalawa, kailangan din sigurong may bagong ebidensiyang ipapasok, kasi kung bukas ka lang ng bukas ng hearing, minsang ang nangyayari mas lalong sumasama, katulad nga niyan nga niyan pagka-nahahaluan ng iba’t-ibang mga samut-saring mga usap-usap na hindi naman makatotohanan,” Poe said.
Her panel report on Mamasapano said then President Benigno Aquino IV was “ultimately responsible” for the operation. It also held dismissed former PNP director general Alan Purisima and former SAF chief Getulio Napenas liable for the failure of Oplan Exodus. The plan and implementation of the operation, the report indicated, “were not 100 percent Filipino”
If the President wants to know as to whom the reward was paid, Poe said Duterte can get the information from the PNP Intelligence.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former chief of the PNP, said he agrees with the reopening of the investigation to bring “closure” and “reach its logical conclusion.”
Lacson is the current chief of the public order panel./PN
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