PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Friday accused Senator Grace Poe, who is leading a Senate investigation on the Jan. 25, 2015 Mamasapano massacre, of harboring ill feelings towards his administration.
“I think we can see that politics plays a big role here,” Aquino said in Filipino during a press conference at the inauguration of a 300-megawatt power plant in Davao City.
“We must not forget, the one who led the investigation, we can understand, perhaps has a grudge on my administration,” Aquino said.
Poe, who is running for president, is the chairman of the Senate committee on public order, which led the Senate inquiry into the January 2015 Mamasapano debacle in Maguindanao, where 44 Special Action Force commandos on a covert mission were killed by Muslim rebels.
She has also publicly blamed the administration and the ruling Liberal Party for several disqualification cases filed against her before the Commission on Elections.
Poe’s committee found Aquino ultimately liable for the death of the 44 SAF commandos.
In a privilege speech in October, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile sought to reopen the Senate investigation, saying he was detained and unable to ask questions during the hearings.
Poe subsequently got the green light from the Senate committee on rules to reopen the investigation, based on Enrile’s request.
Aquino said the investigation would have not been feasible without Poe’s consent as chairman of the Senate panel.
Aquino said his critics were using the Jan. 25 incident to malign his reputation.
“My opponents can see this is the biggest blow against me since I became President and now they find an opportunity to take advantage of it,” Aquino said in Filipino.
In the House, the leader of the independent minority bloc, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, supported the reopening of the Senate probe into the Mamasapano massacre.
“Up to now, it is not clear who has command responsibility for what happened. Justice should be served for the SAF 44 and their families,” said Romualdez, a candidate for senator in the May elections.
Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), said the government needs to work double time to speed up the resolution of cases filed against the perpetrators.
“It is the obligation of the government to be compassionate and show genuine malasakit for our soldiers who are willing to give up their lives for the country,” Romualdez said. With John Paolo Bencito
Magdalo party-list Rep. Francisco Ashley Acedillo welcomed Romualdez’s position.
“As a matter of parliamentary courtesy, as a member of the Lower House I must refrain from speculating on the intent of the other [Upper] House of Congress. But let it be said that any new leads or information on the events that transpired in Mamasapano last Jan. 25, 2015 that can be pursued by the Senate for the benefit of the Fallen 44, their families, the PNP and other innocent people who perished that day should be a welcome opportunity,” Acedillo said.
Romualdez argued that the resumption of the probe is in aid of legislation and has nothing to do with politics.
“We should find out what law needs to be crafted so that this unfortunate incident will not happen again,” Romualdez said.
The Leyte opposition leader also urged the House committee on public order and safety and House special committee on peace, unity, and reconciliation, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer and Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman, respectively, to finally release its own report on the investigation it conducted on the Mamasapano incident.
“We have to put closure on this and we appeal that these panels will make public their report,” Romualdez said.
Ferrer earlier said the joint panels’ draft report indicated that the President has no liability at all in the Mamasapano carnage but has not released the document.
Also on Friday, the Liberal Party said Poe would use the reopening of the probe to benefit her ambition to become president.
“The reopening will just be used for politics,” Roxas spokesman Rep. Barry Gutierrez told reporters at the Liberal Party’s headquarters in Quezon City. “She can say that by now [that she won’t use the investigation] for her own personal motives, but when you’re already seated there, it would be hard to make a distinction of being an investigator and a candidate.”
Poe said Thursday that she isn’t keen at grilling her opponent, administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II and would just “moderate” the Senate proceedings.
“If that would be the case, instead of her just moderating [the proceedings], why can’t she just inhibit herself?” Gutierrez said. with John Paolo Bencito
