Relative and widows of the fallen 44 Special Action Force commandos are attend a press conference with the minority lawmakers at the House of Representatives to urge the Congress to continue their probe of the bloody Mamasapano encounter. INQUIRER PHOTO/RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines–Nearly two months after the ill-fated mission to Mamasapano that he had supervised, resigned Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima has yet to condole with the widows, children and families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos killed in a clash with Moro rebels while pursuing two terrorists.
This was revealed by the SAF widows and relatives who trooped to the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Tuesday to ask members of the minority bloc to resume the hearing on the Mamasapano fiasco that Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. had suspended pending the expected release Wednesday of the board of inquiry report on the incident.
The relatives also complained about the unfulfilled pledges of benefits from the government.
The widows and relatives had hoped to confront Purisima about what they described as a suicide mission, and to pry deeper into the accountability of President Aquino who had repeatedly blamed sacked SAF Director Getulio Napeñas for the failed mission that Purisima had overseen despite his being under suspension by the Ombudsman for alleged corruption.
Second hearing?
House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora said that 94 of 290 House representatives have signed a resolution seeking to hold a second public hearing on the Mamasapano clash following the Feb. 9 initial hearing on the incident.
“You cannot talk about the proposed (Bangsamoro Basic Law) without determining the truth behind Mamasapano,” Zamora said in a press briefing.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said he and other lawmakers were surprised that Purisima had yet to face the relatives of the SAF 44 when the resigned police official practically sent them to their deaths in Mamasapano. “We assure the SAF widows that we will not [have] any executive sessions if Purisima is invited in our hearing. We want him to answer the questions of the SAF widows,” Romualdez said.
“The families of the Fallen 44 are here [and] they came on their own… with just one message: Let’s continue with the hearings. Let’s make sure all the different points of views are heard,” Romualdez said.
The SAF relatives who met with the members of the House were Erica Pabalinas (wife of Senior Insp. Ryan Pabalinas from General Santos City); Merafe Tayros (sister of PSI Rennie Tayros from Zamboanga del Sur); Suzette Tucay (fiancée of PCL Gary Erana from Pagadian City); Telly Sumbilla (mother of PO3 John Lloyd Sumbilla from Samar); Perlito Agabon (father of PO3 Chum Agabon from iligan City); Dolly Cordero (sister of PO3 Roger Cordero from General Santos City); Felicias Nacino (mother of PO3 Nicky Nacino from Isabela); Virgie Viernes (wife of PO2 Oliebeth Viernes from Isabela); and Anastacia Capinding (mother of PO2 Loreto Capinding from Isabela).
Left hanging
Tucay said the relatives were not satisfied with how the Senate investigation was carried out, as it left them with more questions than answers. “We were left hanging, so we want the hearing to resume in Congress. We want clearer results from the investigation,” she said.
Sumbilla said President Aquino’s ever shifting account of his participation in the mission was “frustrating,” as his testimony “was always changing… we don’t believe him anymore. He is blaming only Napeñas. Wasn’t Purisima part of the mission too? My son texted me and said they couldn’t go home on orders of somebody very, very high. He did not tell me who it was.”
Cordero said she had asked the President if the SAF troops were ordered to go back and get Marwan’s head even after they had cut off his finger. Aquino said it was “kwentong kutsero,” the widow added.
The President was rude to the SAF relatives during their meeting, Pabalinas complained.
He should just tell the truth, Cordero said, adding: “We came here because we want to resume the hearing. Our loved ones have been killed, now they want to kill the case too.”
‘Privilege’
Senate President Franklin Drilon said that the Senate had enough information to come up with a report on the inquiry into the Mamasapano clash and could do away with the elusive phone records of Purisima.
But it was the “privilege” of the resigned police chief to decide whether or not he would sign a waiver that would allow telecommunications giant Smart Communications to release his phone records that could detail how he handled the Jan. 25 mission, the Senate President said.
The Senate joint committees investigating the incident had asked Smart to provide the cell phone numbers of the people with whom Purisima had exchanged messages during the Mamasapano incident, but Purisima had refused to provide a waiver.
“Personally, though, we do not need [those phone records],” Drilon said. “What we have is already sufficient for the purpose of making the report and arriving at the real conclusions.”
Asked what he thought of Purisima’s refusal to be interviewed this time by the PNP board of inquiry, Drilon shrugged: “Maybe he has something to hide. I do not really know.”
In Pampanga, the police in Central Luzon on Tuesday raised an initial P300,000 from a biking event held on SAF 46th day of mourning for the 44 fallen troopers. The regional police office also pooled donations of P15,000 each to relatives of three SAF members from Central Luzon. They are PO3 John Lloyd Sumbilla, PO3 Junrel Kibete and PO3 Nicky Nacino Jr., said regional police director Chief Supt. Ronald Santos.
Santos said the P300,000 from the biking event will be deposited in an account that the PNP had opened to receive donations for the slain policemen.
No benefits yet
In Aurora, Isabela, some of the relatives of the SAF 44 groused that they had yet to receive the benefits promised them by the government.
Melanie Duque, widow of PO3 Andres Duque Jr., said they received pledges and offers of assistance during her husband’s burial “but not one was given, except P250,000 from the President’s fund.”
Duque said officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Housing Authority (NHA) have promised to give their family a house and lot worth P300,000, “but nothing had been built yet,” although the DSWD had given them some groceries and rice.
Esmenia Acob, the mother of PO3 Rodrigo Acob Jr., said the government had also promised to give the policeman’s widow, Hazlyn, and their children a house and lot. “I do not know if this will push through as we see nothing under construction yet,” she said.
In San Mateo town, Loreto Capinding Sr., the father of PO1 Loreto Capinding Jr., said offers of help came in trickles.
During his visit to Aurora, Isabela, Director Danilo Constantino, head of the Philippine National Police’s directorate for police-community relations, said the PNP was “not abandoning” the relatives of the SAF 44. “[But] we have to wait for the processing of their checks. We assure them that they will get their rightful benefits,” he added.–With reports from Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
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