Senator Grace Poe believes Sacked Special Action Force Commander General Getulio Napenas, is being set up as the fall guy in what is now known as the Mamasapano tragedy. This is the police operation which sent 44 young policemen to their deaths in the pursuit of global terrorists in the “territory” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Maguindanao.
In the two days of Senate hearings on what truly happened on January 25, Napenas shed light on the complicated power dynamics at the top levels of power.
Napenas owned up to deciding to push through with the operation which was successful—DNA tests have confirmed the Malaysian terrorist Marwan was killed—but which carried a steep and painful cost. Curiously, days before his admission, Napenas said he took direct orders from Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima even as the latter had been suspended by the Ombudsman amid corruption allegations.
Napenas indeed heeded Purisima’s words—order, advice, however you call it—to break the chain of command and deliberately keep acting Police chief Leonardo Espina and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II in the dark about the critical operation.
Who else was fully aware of the plan? No less than President Aquino, with whom Purisima and Napenas at Bahay Pangarap earlier in the month.
By Purisima’s words, he attended such meetings as a mere observer. This is a statement that makes a fool out of anyone naive enough to believe.
Poe cautioned Napenas against his admissions, reminding him of all he could lose if all of this gets pinned on him and him alone. He has served the police for 36 years, but all the benefits due him when he retired could be forfeited. He may have to face charges, as well.
Napenas is not the first fall guy, nor will he be the last. Fall guys exist because we are desperate to pin our blame on someone—anyone—for the tragedy that happened.
Information being revealed point to the direction of powerful people who must be held accountable for what happened to the 44 men. The question is whether we have enough gumption to pursue these leads, sustain the clamor and look beyond the pathetic admissions of those not as powerful who have no other choice but to be sacrificed just so their bosses would be spared.
The public’s outrage is usually tempered by the presence of fall guys. Justice, and the straight and narrow path—however how badly it has been invoked before —demands, though, that we not be appeased. Getting to the bottom of what really happened, and tracing the steps of accountability no matter whose doorstep we are led to, is the only way we can attain closure, heal, and move on.