Finally, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel in search for justice for SAF44.
In rescinding the temporary restraining order against the Sandiganbayan proceedings against Noynoy Aquino, the Supreme Court gave impetus to the clamor for the filing of proper criminal charges against the former president in connection with the January 2015 Mamasapano Massacre.
Aquino et al would have made a mockery of the justice system with the help of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who filed misdemeanor charges—practically a slap on the wrist —against the despicable culprits.
Apparently, the High Court agrees there is clearly gross culpability on the part of Aquino, his sidekick Alan Purisima, former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and several other police officials responsible for Oplan Exodus.
The SC granted the TRO sought by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) before the Sandiganbayan could arraign Aquino for the laughable charges concocted by Morales, his loyal appointee.
Indeed, the bereaved families of SAF44 can hope for justice for the horrific deaths of their loved ones on that tragic day that shocked the Filipino nation.
Unfortunately for Aquino et al, they can no longer cover up or whitewash their murderous plot of sending the PNP Special Action Force on a suicide mission to kill Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, who was holed up in the camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
After killing Marwan before dawn, only then did the 200 SAF troops discover that they had no way of escaping unharmed as over 1,000 Muslim rebels surrounded them.
All day, the SAF troops practically looked like sitting ducks for target shooting for the MILF troops and their ally, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). Those captured were summarily executed and mutilated. These killings were even recorded on video.
Instead of sending reinforcement, Aquino ordered the military command nearby to stand down, supposedly not to undermine the decades-old peace talks between the government and the MILF.
It surfaced that the whole scheme ill-designed by Purisima, who was then suspended from police service over a multi-million peso graft case, was motivated by the US$10-million bounty offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for each of the head of Marwan and his aide Basit Usman, also a bomb expert.
According to the families of SAF44, former Interior and Local Government secretary Mar Roxas is as culpable as Aquino for turning his back and abandoning the SAF troops under siege throughout that fateful day.
We share the grief of the SAF44 widows as they struggle for justice, almost five years after the Mamasapano tragedy.
