The petition of the Ombudsman for the withdrawal of the usurpation and graft charges against former President Benigno S Aquino III and former police officers Alan Purisima and Getulio Napeñas for usurpation of authority and graft in connection with the Mamasapano Massacre in January 2015 has been held in abeyance by the Sandiganbayan.
Ombudsman Samuel Martirez has asked the anti-graft court that he be allowed to withdraw the case against the three because he wanted to file the more serious charges of multiple homicide.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alex Quiroz issued the ruling after Martires agreed to hold his motion to withdraw the complaints in abeyance until the Supreme Court lifts the temporary restraining order it issued in February 2018.
Aquino, his National Police chief Alan Purisima and former Special Action Force commander Getulio Napeñas were earlier charged with usurpation of authority and graft by then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in connection with the killing of 44 SAF troopers by Moro Islamic Liberation Front members and other gunmen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, following an operation to neutralize two Islamic terrorists who sought sanctuary in the area.
The three were supposed to be arraigned on Feb. 15, 2018 but the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to cancel the arraignment and instead as the Court to order the filing of multiple homicide charges against Aquino and the two former police officers involved in the botched operation in January 2015.
Morales dropped the charge of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide against the three when she filed the case with the Sandiganbayan, prompting suspicions that she filed a weak case to have the three acquitted.
In legislative investigations following the massacre of the what are now called the SAF 44, senators were told that Aquino himself was involved in the planning of the operation against terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, a Malaysian bomb expert.
The legislators were also told that Aquino allowed Purisima, who was suspended at the time, to supervise the operation that was done without the knowledge of the acting National Police chief at the time, Lt. Gen. Leonardo Espina.
Napeñas, on the other hand, acted without the authority of his immediate superior, Espina, and instead, went over Espina’s head and reported directly to Aquino.
Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the TRO from the SC because he believed the charges that were filed were the wrong charges. After the SC issued the TRO, he said: “This is the first step to hold those responsible for the senseless killing of the SAF44. “ Calida was referring to 44 members of the Philippine National Police’s elite Special Action Force who were killed on Jan. 25, 2015.
Jason Aguilar, Aquino’s chief legal counsel, did not oppose Martires’s position.
“We are in favor of withdrawing the information, Your Honor,” Aguilar said.
Martires told reportrs after the hearing that he has been asking Ombudsman prosecutors to file the motion to withdraw these cases since August last year when he was appointed Ombudsman by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The prosecutors only agreed with me when I told them I would file the motion myself… the motion to withdraw the [criminal] information,” Martires said.
