By XIANNE ARCANGEL, GMA News
President Benigno Aquino III felt he had been lied to by then-suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Alan Purisima during the police operation to arrest two high-value terrorists in what is believed to be Moro Islamic Liberation Front territory in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25.
Two lawmakers who were present at the meeting Aquino held Monday in Malacañang confirmed the President believed he was told lies when he received inaccurate information from Purisima that help was on the way for the beleaguered SAF troopers trapped in a gunfight with Moro rebels in Mamasapano.
In an interview over dZBB Tuesday, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora recalled Aquino was asked by a lawmaker who used to be in the uniformed services if he felt he had been misled by the information he received regarding “Oplan Exodus,” the police operation to arrest Malaysian bomb making expert Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino terrorist Abdul Basit Usman.
“Ang sagot ng Pangulo, tingin ko hindi lang [ako] na-misled. I had been told lies,” Zamora recalled Aquino as saying.
“I still remember the word [the President used]: ‘I had been lied to,’” the lawmaker added.
'They were lies'
Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said he was the lawmaker who asked Aquino if he felt he had been misled by the information Purisima relayed to him regarding “Oplan Exodus.”
“I asked him: Do you think you were fed inaccurate information regarding this police operation? The President was candid enough to respond: I think they were lies,” Acop, a former police director, said.
In a transcript of text messages that he read before a Senate inquiry Monday, it was revealed that Purisima had told Aquino the military was already providing mechanized and artillery support even though they have not yet been deployed at that time.
Purisima was already suspended as PNP chief when the SAF commandos carried out the operation to nab Marwan and Usman. According to Zamora, Purisima updated Aquino about the “Oplan Exodus” from Nueva Ecija.
Aquino met with House leaders and select lawmakers later that day to explain how much he knew about the SAF operation in Mamasapano. Aquino recollection of his actions that day was accompanied by a Powerpoint presentation containing the text messages he received from Purisima.
Aquino is commander-in-chief
While Aquino did not specifically mention Purisima as the person who lied to him, Acop believes the President could have only been talking about him since the text messages the lawmakers saw came from the now-resigned PNP chief.
Zamora, for his part, said: “Hindi niya (Aquino) sinabing sinungaling si Purisima, but he felt he deserves to be told the truth.”
Acop said Aquino deserved to know the whole truth about the Mamasapano operation because he is the police and military’s Commander in Chief.
“The President should have been given all the true information regarding the operation, kasi if the information given to him were not true or relevant, he couldn’t make a good decision,” he said.
Acop said it was clear from the President’s presentation to them that he gave specific instructions to Purisima to inform PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas about “Oplan Exodus,” and to then- SAF director Getulio Napeñas to coordinate with the AFP but these were not followed.
“The burden of the operational lapse on communication on the ground now falls on Purisima and Napeñas since they had failed to coordinate and even when the President specifically instructed them to,” he said.
—NB, GMA News
