(Eagle News) — In his proposal to reopen the Mamasapano probe, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said that President Aquino’s presence in the inquiry is not needed, but “he still needs to explain” his part in the ill-fated operation last January 2015.
According to the veteran senator, he will not insist on the President’s attendance to the probe, but said that Aquino has to clarify his involvement in the operation that killed 44 members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), 18 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), 5 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and 7 civilians.
Enrile added that the President should not suspect any motives, whether there is any grudge or a political agenda, in the reopening of the probe.
“If they have nothing to hide, why will they hesitate to allow the investigation? I’m not going to be personal about this. We are serving the country. People have the right to know what happened,” Enrile said.
Earlier, President Aquino hinted that the re-investigation of the Mamasapano operation was politically motivated.
The Senate re-investigation on the Mamasapano operation was set on January 25, the first year anniversary of the operation, by Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Commitee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs. Poe is currently one of the contenders for the presidency in the May polls and an opponent of the administration’s standard-bearer Mar Roxas. Asked if Poe’s handling of the probe will affect her credibility, Enrile said this was not so and stated that “the handling of the probe is very fair.” The committee had earlier released its report on the operation and found out that Aquino was “ultimately responsible” for the incident.
The Mamasapano incident (codename: Oplan Exodus) took place on January 25, 2015 when members of the PNP-SAF launched an operation to capture or kill Malaysian terror leader and bombmaker Zulkifli Abdhir a.k.a Marwan and high-ranking leaders of BIFF. The operation was a success with the killing of Marwan, but it resulted in the deaths of 44 SAF commandos. The Aquino administration was heavily criticized for the handling of the operation.