The Jan. 9 Bahay Pangarap Meeting: The Napeñas Testimony
“On January 9, 2015, we, the President, PNP Chief Purisima, and I met in Bahay Pangarap xxx and Operation Exodus was finalized …” – former SAF chief Napeñas.
i hate to say this but because Operation Wolverine/ Operation Terminator/ Operation Exodus (to capture international terrorist Marwan dead or alive) was a covert operation, and the President chose to head or oversee the operation, he had the prerogative of choosing the personnel, the means, the method, the weapons, the time, and the manner — as long as he was not breaking the law.
That’s the caveat. As long as all his acts were lawful. (and he would account for them).
He knew there would be a firefight in a rebel stronghold — but he hoped the strike would be surgical, he knew it would breach the ceasefire but he thought it would be excusable under “law-enforcement” processes of the government, he knew it was risky and dangerous but he hoped there would be less casualties as the Ceasefire Committee (“Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities”) should be able to stop the firefight soon enough, he knew PNP Chief Alan Purisima was under preventive suspension, but he was the head of state, the Chief Executive (“cite me in contempt”, he’d say).
They got Marwan alright (congratulations), but he miscalculated — in many ways in many different levels with 44 SAF forces to show for it.
What was unforgiveable was the refusal to account for it. And so, a hundred investigating bodies bloomed.
(the Palace advisers surrounding him are too keen on the 2016 elections and the fortunes of their political party)
Instead of learning from the miscalculations for future operations, he is expending precious resources on mitigating the cost of his miscalculations.
Bite the bullet — and leave a legacy of courage and accountability.
Breaking news first posted at 5:49 am Feb. 3: The AFP in its official fact-finding report, the details of which were released two minutes ago, bared that during the Mamasapano firefight, the PNP-SAF asked the Army for artillery fire but could not inform them of the grid coordinates and the location of civilians. These details were disclosed by AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla in a live phonepatched interview by Aksyon 5. He said that while the Army was notified in the evening that such an operation would take place, they were not informed of operational details such as location and movements. They were notified of the encounter only when it was already a live operation early morning, according to the AFP spokesperson.
He also added that the fact that the Army and the PNP-SAF had different radio frequencies made the communication more difficult.
He explained that the 6th Infantry Division was willing to send reinforcements but they were not informed of the exact location of the forces, and since the MILF and BIFF wore the same camouflage fatigue, there would be danger that the Army quick reaction force would not know whom they were firing at.
[blog admin’s note: Based on the AFP chain of command, this AFP fact-finding report would already have been approved by the Chief of Staff and the Commander-in-Chief (PNoy and Malacañang), and it sets the tone for the investigating committees that would be formed by allies of the President such as the Truth Commission, and other bodies]
