(Eagle News) – The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday formally filed a complaint for graft and usurpation of public function against former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima and former PNP Special Action Force (SAF) director Getulio Napeñas Jr., for their role in the tragic “Oplan Exodus” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao which left over 60 people dead on January 25, 2015.
It has recommended a bail of P10,000 each for Purisima and Napenas for each case.
The filing of charges happened a day before the second anniversary of the Mamasapano incident where 44 PNP-SAF troopers were massacred.
Former President Benigno Aquino III to whom Purisima was reporting on Oplan Exodus, was, however, not included in the recommendation for the filing of charges.
Purisima and Napeñas were called into account by the Ombudsman for bypassing the chain of command in carrying out the operation that killed high-profile Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Bassit Usman
Purisima had been earlier suspended on a graft case when he and Napeñas planned the so called “Oplan Exodus” on the terrorist stronghold in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The Ombudsman said that Purisima, “unlawfully and feloniously” participated in the planning and deliberations as regards Oplan Exodus, while he was under preventive suspension.
The raid on the rebel hideout in the cornfields of Mamasapano happened on January 25, 2015.
Purisima was then suspended for an alleged anomalous contract the PNP entered into with a courier service company. The effectivity of the suspension order was from December 9, 2014 to June 10, 2015.
Although he was already suspended, Purisima constantly asked and received updates from PNP-SAF director Napenas regarding the operation, bypassing then-officer-in-charge PNP chief Leonardo Espina, and without informing them Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas who had no inkling about the operation.
They also kept the Oplan Exodus under wraps even from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which they eventually contacted for help.
Napeñas also gave updates directly to Purisima although he knew that the latter was already under his suspension, and that his direct superior would be Espina
The SAF team allegedly killed Marwan but was overpowered and surrounded by armed groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), when they were about to pull out of the area. The PNP-SAF men were then in an open area, mostly cornfields, which made them easy targets for the MILF rebels, and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The MILF, whose leaders were then currently negotiating with the government on a peace deal, was also not informed about the operation. The Mamasapano tragedy was largely blamed for the non-passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law which was then pending in Congress.
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