Purisima ‘misled’ Aquino on massacre
The resigned chief of the Philippine National Police, Alan Purisima, is turning out to be the new fall guy in the desperate effort to absolve President Aquino of responsibility for the Jan. 25 massacre of the 44 PNP-Special Action Force commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The latest action to exculpate the President, who now faces a smoldering public demand for his resignation over the debacle, was revealed in an exchange of text messages between him and Purisima, which came to light at the resumption on Monday of the Senate inquiry into the firefight between the SAF commandos and guerrillas linked to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Mamasapano.
The exchange showed that the text messages from Purisima were purportedly sent to update the President on the killing of the SAF commandos involved in the operation to serve arrest warrants on Malaysian bomb expert Marwan and his Filipino associate Basit Usman in an MILF-controlled territory.
Purisima’s messages, according to Sen. Francis Escudero, were “not entirely accurate” and were “in fact false.”
In one text message, Purisima told the President that the SAF commandos engaged in the firefight with the MILF and BIFF forces were being backed by “mechanized and artillery support” from the military. In fact, it was noted by senators at the hearing, “this was not the case, because the tanks and artillery were not yet deployed at the time, and these were not utilized fully because of the marshy terrain and lack of a forward observer.”
And Purisima’s text messages to the President did not indicate that the situation was “worsening.” In the end, 44 SAF commandos, 18 MILF fighters and at least five civilians were killed in “Oplan Exodus.”
Purisima said he texted the President at 5:45 a.m. on Jan. 25 that Marwan had been killed but that his body had been left behind, and one SAF trooper was wounded.
Based on his text message to Purisima, the President knew the details of the operation, and believed that the PNP and military units were to be available to assist 160 commandos sent to arrest Marwan and Usman.
“If I remember correctly, 160 SAF troopers were directly in this operation plus provisions for other PNP and [military] units to assist,” Mr. Aquino’s 7.59 a.m. message read. “The terrain is flat and clear, as opposed to upland forested or jungle terrain. Why could they not contain and/or overwhelm the 15-20 members [of the] opposing force? Are they still in contact with the two other targets? If not, and the opposing force has escaped, are we now back to square one?”
Purisima replied at 8.17 a.m.: “They are presently in contact with reinforcing elements from BIFF. The containment forces are the ones in contact right now. They are supported by mechanized and artillery support, Sir.”
That was a bald lie that could only have fostered self-delusion on the part of the President.
Escudero noted that, according to the testimony of military officials, the tanks or mechanized brigade that were supposed to assist the SAF troopers were only able to reach the edge of the highway and were unable to get to the marshland where the fighting was raging.
The mechanized brigade took off at 8:20 a.m., which was after Purisima sent the text message to the President about mechanized and artillery support, Escudero pointed out. Purisima had testified that he based his message to the President about mechanized and artillery support on a text message sent to him by Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Command.
After receiving the call to assist the SAF troopers under fire, Guerrero told Purisima that there was coordination on the ground, and that “tank, infantry, and artillery support are made available.” But the farcical charade of self-delusion continued.
“I’m not saying the artillery and tanks were already firing. That is the call of the ground commander,” Guerrero said, which is a case of passing the buck to another scapegoat, former SAF commander Getulio Napeñas. “What I’m saying is these are available in the area, because it is only now that you told us you need assistance,” Guerrero said.
When asked at the Senate hearing whether he had informed the President that the mechanized brigade was unable to provide support to the SAF troopers, Purisima said the President was in Zamboanga City on that day and that “he should have been briefed there by the military.”
