Purisima’s role in ‘Oplan Exodus’ uncalled for –lawmakers

Resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima’s involvement in the January 25 covert police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, was uncalled for and a violation of the chain of command, two lawmakers said Tuesday.

Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong, chair of the House committee on Muslim affairs, said Purisima should have relayed the information he had on “Oplan Exodus” to PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina instead of giving advice to sacked Special Action Force (SAF) head Getulio Napenas.

“I think his (Purisima’s) role [in the operation] was uncalled for. The only role he could have played was maybe to share some information to the acting PNP chief. But for him to directly advise or directly give an order to a subordinate commander on the ground, I think that is a violation of the chain of command,” he told reporters in a press briefing.

Forty-four police commandos were killed in the operation, designed to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino bomb-maker Basit Usman, after they figured in an encounter with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Purisima, who resigned as PNP chief after the Mamasapano incident, was accused of overseeing the operation despite his suspension due to corruption charges.

Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano said Purisima can’t claim credit even if the operation went smoothly because he was serving suspension at the time it was carried out.

“Even if the operations succeeded, I don’t think General Purisima can claim the success because in the first place, he will still be questioned why he is giving orders to a PNP unit when he is suspended,” he said.

Alejano believes Napeñas did not follow a legal order when he heeded Purisima’s advice since Purisima was suspended at the time of planning and execution of “Oplan Exodus.”

"If you follow the advice [from a superior], it becomes an order. If a commander wishes something from a subordinate, it becomes an order,” the former Marine captain said.

At the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano clash on Monday, Napeñas said Purisima had told him not to inform Espina and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II of the top-secret police operation.

The erstwhile SAF chief, however, maintained that he was on top of the operation and that he only took Purisima’s statements as suggestions, not orders. —KBK, GMA News