PNP OIC only informed 'after the fact' of Mamasapano operation

The officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police said he didn't know until "after the fact" about the operation in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao that claimed the lives of 44 elite commandos this past weekend.

 

Dir. Gen. Leonardo Espina told reporters on Thursday that he was out of the loop of the planning of the operation, and that he didn't hear word about it until shortly before members of the PNP-Special Action Force were already in a firefight with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Fight (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

 

"Alas singko y media pasado na. Text," said Espina in a report on "24 Oras" when asked when he found out about the mission to carry out arrest warrants against two suspected terrorists — Malaysian national Zulkipli Bin Hir alias Abu Marwan and Filipino bomb maker Abdulbasit Usman.

 

 

In an address on Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino III said the SAF team arrived at Marwan's hideout at around 4 a.m. Former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas, who was relieved from his post after the operation, said it resulted in Marwan's death.

 

Espina noted that he wasn't informed about the operation until after this.

 

"Earlier on, na-hit na nila yung objective eh. Parang, informed me na ganun," said Espina. 

 

Afterwards, the SAF personnel found themselves in the firefight with Muslim rebels.

 

"Tapos mamaya naiipit na. So I coordinated with the Armed Forces. I was informed pero unfortunately, after the fact na. Kasi yung planning yung importante diyan eh. I was not in the loop," said Espina.

 

In his speech, Aquino noted that the battalion of Armed Forces of the Philippines assigned to the area only knew about the operation when the SAF team already jumped off to its 

 

The also said that the Western Mindanao Command head and the 6th Infantry Division only knew about the incident after SAF's first encounter with the terrorists. — JST, GMA News