Duterte blaming Roxas for Mamasapano incident a diversionary tactic —Pangilinan

Senator Francis Pangilinan on Saturday said President Rodrigo Duterte was using "diversionary tactics" in his recent claim that Mar Roxas was one of those to blame for the Mamasapano encounter in 2015, in order to turn the public's attention away from the administration's failures and their candidates' track records.

In a statement, the Liberal Party president said the incident has been investigated by the Senate, and that appropriate charges were already filed against those involved and these are being handled by the courts.

"Let’s allow the judicial processes to proceed and give the persons involved their day in court. That is where accountability is ultimately determined," Pangilinan said.

The senator said it is "pure and simple politicking" for Duterte to raise once again the matter, meant to ignore the pressing issues the country is facing including poverty, lack of opportunities, indignation over China’s aggression, and corruption hounding many of the administration candidates.

"The public should remain vigilant and not be misled by these diversionary tactics meant to confuse and keep voters from scrutinizing the administration's failures and their candidates' track records," Pangilinan stated.

"If we act like a broken record, we will not be able to move forward and attend to the real issues at hand," he added.

Duterte made his statement in a speech at a PDP-Laban campaign rally in Cagayan earlier in the week.

The firefight between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Moro rebels in 2015 resulted in the death of 44 members of the Special Action Force in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Duterte revealed more details to his previous claim that he was with Roxas and former President Benigno Aquino III when the Mamasapano incident happened.

Roxas, who is running for senator in the midterm elections, was secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) when the Mamasapano incident happened.

In August 2015, Roxas faced the Senate probe into the tragedy to explain his role in the operation. 

Months after the incident, Roxas had said that he continued to think what else could he have done, but said that he was kept in the dark about the details of the operation. —Jamil Santos/KG, GMA News