A10
S AT U R D AY : J A N U A R Y 3 0 , 2 0 1 6
OPINION
lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph
NOT PRIVACY BUT CRIMINAL LIABILITY BACK BENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN IT IS most disgusting to see Senate President Franklin Drilon blocking what the people want to hear in the supposed recorded conversation between a lawmaker and a ranking government official, which according to retired Police Chief Supt. Diosdado Valeroso, was an attempt to cover up the truth behind the bloody massacre of the 44 country’s elite members of the Special Action Force. Drilon keeps on reminding Valeroso that under Republic Act No. 4200, unauthorized recording, possession and communication of tapped conversation is illegal, cannot be made admissible as evidence, and any person who commits such violation can be penalized by imprisonment. The attempt by the minions of the Aquino administration to prevent the
The issue is not about national security or privacy but the extent of the President’s criminal liability.
public from knowing the contents in that taped conversation confirms their suspicion of the President did not just have knowledge but actually oversaw the bungled operations, and are now desperately trying to sanitize him from any responsibility. The issue is not about national security or privacy but the extent of the President’s criminal liability. As the inquiry slowly unearthed the details on what transpired, they all conclude that PNoy knew or maybe participated in the planning of Operation Exodus, and was possibly monitoring the progress inside a military base in Zamboanga City. Worse, he did not send reinforcement to the beleaguered SAF to minimize the casualties or to turn the tables against the encircling MILF and BIFF forces. Effectively, whether
President Aquino gave a stand-down order to the Armed Forces encamped nearby is only of secondary importance. What is clear is that he was aware that a carnage was going on, and did not lift a finger to save the lives of the remaining police forces, many of whom were seriously wounded and purposely videoed by those terrorists to show how they finished off a fallen soldier with his body still twitching in pain. Some even insinuate that PNoy probably saw in “real time” the slaughter, alleging there were drones taking photos of the area. Such humiliating defeat in the hands of terrorists who beg for peace while waging a bloody secessionist war is most disheartening. We have a President whom we gave the title of commander-in-chief but forsaking his embattled men. Major General Angelito de Leon’s statement blaming wholly General Getulio Napeñas for the fiasco, allegedly failing to coordinate with the Armed Forces, was meant to focus the blame on the police general. But to whom would SAF coordinate in that tense moment when fighting was raging? Even if the demand for assistance did not pass through unusual “protocol” of coordination, the duty of the commanding officer of the Army encamped in the area was to take the initiative of saving the lives of their comrade-in-arms though belonging to a different agency of the government. In fact, the MILFBIFF encampment was within the reach of artillery fire from the army base to relieve the beleaguered SAF who were under heavy gunfire. Rather, their inaction was telling that they were awaiting orders from the commander-in-chief who was politicking with the lives of those men obeying orders to secure the arrest of two terrorists. Senators Drilon, Antonio Trillanes and that overtly ambitious Senator Grace Poe need not belabor on the illegality of the tapped conversation. The issue of national security has nothing to do with what Valeroso would want to share to our people. Everybody knows that the operations ended up in fiasco principally because of the ineptitude of President Aquino who is more interested in saving the peace agreement than in saving
EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA
THE DEATH OF THE MANY AND THE ONE
THIS week, we remember fellow Filipinos who died violently at this time last year (at least 72 SAF policemen, MILF warriors, and Moro civilians in Mamasapano) and one who was killed also this week five years ago, the environmentalist and anticorruption advocate Gerry Ortega. Mamasapano was remembered well through the Senate hearing led by Senator Grace Poe. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile did the country a favor by calling for this hearing and by doing the exhaustive research to ask the sharp questions raised last Wednesday. I think Enrile, still brilliant and in control of his mental faculties, did the country a favor. He was thorough and covered all the bases and confirmed the findings of the Poe report. Senator Poe is right that there is no reason to change the findings and conclusions of her report. The case should now be closed. The impression is almost unanimous that Senator Poe did an excellent and fair job running the hearing. I was not able to follow everything as I had teaching duties but a person whose judgement is impeccable and one I totally trust messaged me this: “Magaling si Grace. orderly, hindi magulo ang pagpatakbo ng hearing, kalmado, uneventful, which was good.” The reopening of the
Mamasapano investigation could have been dynamite but Poe handled it very well for everyone, for Enrile, for President Aquino, for the police and military officials, for the SAF 44 and the Moros who were killed, the families of the dead, even for her rival Mar Roxas, and above all for the country who can now lay this matter to rest. I wish all our politicians were as focused, competent and ethical as she is. As for the possible liability of President Aquino, Enrile is right this will be up to the courts if this reaches them. “Let the law enforcement people do the job in the future,” he said. In my view, Aquino will be fine whoever wins. Roxas, Poe, Binay, Duterte, and Santiago have different priorities. They will not go after Aquino. The next step should be to legislate the reforms proposed in that report, particularly those relating to police reforms. Moving forward on the Mindanao peace process is also essential. I do understand Deputy Speaker Pangalian Balindong when he lamented the other day the demise of the BBL: “Today, with a heavy heart and disturbing sense of foreboding, I close the book of hope for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. 51 public hearings, 200 hours of committee level debates and 8 months of consultations are all put to waste
—thrown into the abyss of uncertainty and darkness. This is the lowest and saddest day of my legislative work. Today, we take away the hopes of millions of people in the Bangsamoro. By sheer tyranny of the majority, we have foreclosed all possible peaceful, legal, and constitutional avenues for peace.” There is hope, however. While the Bangsamoro Basic Law can no longer be enacted during Aquino’s term, it can be passed on to the new administration. It’s better that way actually so the new president can own it and so the current versions, which are all noncompliant with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and weaker than the current ARMM law, can be improved. A transition agreement must now be negotiated. It’s analogous to the last months of the GMA Administration when we (I was a member of the panel led by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis) negotiated such a transition. Because we did it after the elections with a winner already known, we made sure we consulted, as a courtesy and so turnover would be smooth, with the incoming officials. I considered that best negotiation and governance practice. *** For the death of Gerry Ortega, gunned down in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the demands of justice is
simpler. What is called for is the conviction and imposition of the right penalties on the perpetrators —the gunman and more importantly the masterminds. I will not comment on the case as the trial is currently going on. With the arrest of the alleged masterminds in Phuket, brothers Joel and Mario Reyes in Thailand last year, a decision on this case should be forthcoming. Thankfully, the Supreme Court just cleared the way for the trial. We must pursue justice whether for the many of the one, the words of Gerry Ortega’s daughter Michaela (posted in Facebook) rings very true: “The pursuit of justice comes at such a high cost— a cost on top of an already incalculable loss. It consists of saying the names of murderers over and over again. I had to replay the sequence of events in my head until I can recite them in my sleep. It means granting permission to making a spectacle of my grief, which entails having cameras and microphones at my face when I am most vulnerable. It involves constantly asking for help from complete strangers, trying to get them to care about the death of a man they never met. But nothing quite compares to seeing the faces of the masterminds, the very men who decided my father’s death, in a courtroom for a Continued on A11
the lives of our policemen who were doing their duty of enforcing the law. Even in the US where we love to cite jurisprudence involving wire-tapped conversation used as evidence have often been upheld when public interest so demands. The “Watergate scandal” wherein the tape of conversations of President Nixon to his confidants who carried out the burglary at the Democratic Party headquarters was ordered to be made public to prevent whitewash of the case. And when it became clear that the Senate would vote to impeach him, President Nixon had to resign rather than wait for the verdict of being kicked out of office. Here, misconduct in office, plunder, and even treason has been so politicized that PNoy is likely to get away with them. PNoy would not mind being called a puppet. What is important is that he finished what the US
wanted him to do. This was clear because there was a ceasefire that was supposed to be in place after the signing on March 27, 2014 of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to replace the law creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The US, on the other hand, was pressuring him to get that Malaysian terrorist, Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino Muslim terrorist identified as Basit Usman, Marwan had a price tag of $5 million for his capture, dead or alive. Many believe that US intelligence operatives were involved because Caucasian-looking men, possibly Americans, were seen airlifting the wounded out of the battle zone. Many political analysts wonder why the US did not press the PNoy government to segregate the MILF from the BIFF to prevent them from pinpointing at each other as a terrorist organization. The Mamasapano clash catalyzed
the truth that they were united during the fighting, as they fought side by side to repulse the arresting SAF force on Jan. 25, 2014. Moreover, while the US was interested in keeping intact the peace agreement signed by the government with the MILF, it was unwilling to delay the arrest of the two terrorists even if that could jeopardize the deal. Thus, the Aquino government was forced to come out with a strategy of limiting the parties involved in the operations. That explains why his protégé, Local Government secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas (with which the PNP is supposed to be a part of his department), and then acting PNP director Leonardo Espina who temporarily took over the post of then suspended Chief of Staff, Alan Purisima, were both excluded in the operational planning to get the two terrorists. Now that it has failed with many of our legisla-
tors promising not to ratify the BBL, plus the events in Europe, in the Middle East and in Africa where there has been a surge in terrorism and the US having second thoughts on whether to continue supporting these groups that openly declared having connection with the MILF, PNoy is once again unable to solve the problem that badly tarnished his reputation. The debacle has even affected his endorsement of Mar Roxas and his LP ticket. They have become a political pariah which only their elitist–controlled media are romping them as popular. As said, PNoy cannot now distance himself from the massacre that brought humiliation to the nation because it has become evident that he had knowledge in the planning, implementation, and now wants to get away from the aftermath that ensued. rpkapunan@gmail,com