Aquino did not 'compartmentalize' Mamasapano mission — Malacañang

Malacañang on Thursday defended President Benigno Aquino III from accusations that he was fully aware of Oplan Exodus and that he "compartmentalized" or kept the plan to himself and to then suspended Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima and Special Action Force commander Getulio Napeñas.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said what the President knew was only the concept of Oplan Exodus as presented to him by Napeñas.

Oplan Exodus is the code name of a police mission to capture suspected Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir, alias Marwan, in his hideout in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao. Over 60 people, including 44 policemen from the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) were killed in the gun battle. Marwan, who was then listed as one of the Most Wanted Terrorists by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and had a $5 million bounty on his head, was also killed in the Jan. 25, 2015 operation.

The Mamasapano incident drew a political firestorm that sent the President's popularity ratings to its lowest level and has threatened the peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

During the reopening of the Mamasapano probe Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile accused the president of excluding government, police, and military officials from the operations.  

“Ang prinesent ni Director Napenas sa Pangulo ay concept of operations, ‘yun ‘yung extent na nalaman niya, yung mga plano nila,” Coloma told reporters in a briefing in Malacañang.

He said Aquino’s inputs on how the police should carry out the mission could not be considered as meddling.

“Yung sinabing nakialam, ibig sabihin ay gumawa ng bagay na  nakabalam sa operasyon. Ano kayang specific action ang tinutukoy niya? Ang malinaw lang dito ay inutusan siyang (Napeñas) mag-coordinate sa Armed Forces. Hindi pakikialam yun,” Coloma, a former associate dean and professor at the Asian Institute of Management,  said.

“Iyon ay guidance na napakahalaga, nanggaling mismo sa Pangulo ng Pilipinas. Hindi ko narinig si Director Napeñas mismo na nagsabing na itinuring niyang pakikialam ito,” he added.

He further said that Philippine National Police director-general Ricardo Marquez, who was head of the Directorate for Operations of the PNP at the time the Mamasapano mission took place, also testified that there was no cooperation plan that was submitted to the PNP headquarters and that there were no clear exit plan which should have been part of contingency plan.

“Ang sinabi ni Director Napeñas meron daw pero sila lang ang nakakaalam. Kung sila lang ang nakakaalam e di hindi alam ni Pangulo, so contradiction yan doon sa sinasabing nag-compartmentalized si Pangulo. Sa aking palagay  yun ang nagbunsod kay Senator (Franklin) Drilon para sabihin na kung may nag-comparmentalize ay si Napeñas,” he said.  — APG, GMA News