Former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino blames Former Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) Commander Getulio Napeñas for the botched operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that resulted in the massacre of the so-called SAF 44 on January 25, 2015.
Aquino said, Napeñas had falsely guaranteed that the operation dubbed ‘Oplan Exodus’ would have sufficient backing from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
He said, Napeñas informed him that the AFP would provide 160 Seaborne operatives.
“Matapos ang imbestigasyon, lumabas na wala palang 160 ang Seaborne. Higit 70 lang ang bilang nila at 54 sa kanila ang operators (after the investigation, it was found out that Seaborne does not have 160 operatives. They only have more than 70 and 54 of them are operators),” Aquino recalled.
The former commander in chief also noted, there was lack of proper planning and coordination for the battle.
Aquino added, no Americans were directly involved in the encounter.
He stated, “wala po akong Amerikanong nakausap ukol sa operasyon bago ito maisagawa at habang ito ay isinasagawa sa Mamasapano (I did not talk with any American about the operation before it was conducted and while it was ongoing).”
Aquino made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte said, the former president must explain his role in the clash.
Duterte also branded the battle as an American adventure, supposedly with Aquino’s blessing.
Duterte earlier announced that he would create a seven-man panel to investigate the alleged liabilities supposedly committed by Aquino and other government officials of the previous administration that resulted in the tragedy.