Moneeze Bernardo
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“Otso Diretso” bet Rep. Gary Alejano said on Sunday that former president Benigno Aquino III should have taken responsibility for the Mamasapano massacre that killed 44 elite policemen.
In one of the senatorial debates hosted by ABS-CBN, Alejano was asked during the “fast-talk” round of “Harapan 2019” on whether what Aquino did with the Mamasapano issue was right, to which he responded: “May kulang.”
“Dapat inako niya ang lahat ng responsibilidad doon bilang tatay ng bansa,” Alejano clarified.
Asked further if Aquino was liable for massacre, Alejano said: “Nasa kaso na po iyan at hayaan natin ang justice system na gumulong.”
Another senatorial aspirant and former solicitor general Florin Hilbay was in opposition, however, claiming that Aquino should not be held liable for the massacre.
According to Hilbay, Aquino gave an order to a subordinate, but that subordinate failed to do what was asked of him.
“Sa aking pananaw, nagbigay siya ng isang utos sa kaniyang subordinate. Hindi nagawa ng kaniyang subordinate ang utos na ‘yun. Hindi puwedeng managot ang isang pinuno sa kamalian ng kaniyang subordinate,” he said which was an echo the former president’s statement that the botched mission was not his fault.
Aquino pinned the blame instead on former Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas who allegedly disobeyed orders to coordinate with the Army.
The Mamasapano clash was an incident that occurred during a police operation, codenamed Oplan Exodus, which took place on Sunday, January 25, 2015, at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao where 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (SAF) were killed in an anti-terrorist operation.
