Joyas
President Benigno Aquino III can still bounce back and regain public confidence provided he apologizes to the Filipino people for the Mamasapano massacre that claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) police commandos.
“The most important thing he can do now is to apologize to Filipinos because that is what the entire nation has been waiting for,” said Vicente Joyas, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president.
Joyas told Cebu Daily News that the Jan. 25 operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao caused the decline in President Aquino’s approval and trust ratings in the last Pulse Asia Survey.
The widows of the Fallen 44 and former president Fidel Ramos were among those who called for President Aquino to apologize for the Mamasapano incident.
Based on the results of a Pulse Asia survey, Aquino’s approval rating dropped 21 percentage points from 59 percent in November 2014 to 38 percent this month.
Shortcomings
The President’s trust rating declined 20 percentage points from 56 percent to 36 percent.
Ronald Holmes, president of Pulse Asia, said this was the largest decline in both approval and trust ratings of Aquino in five years.
“An apology does not necessarily mean an admission of guilt,” the lawyer from Quezon province said at the start of the 15th National Lawyers Convention at a Cebu City Hotel last Friday.
“But he must say sorry kasi kitang-kita naman yong pagkukulang nya eh (he must say sorry because his shortcomings in the Mamasapano incident were very obvious),” Joyas said.
Joyas said he’s convinced that the president had a hand in the Mamasapano police operation as stated in the report of the Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (BOI) and the Senate which investigated the incident.
“Both the BOI and the Senate said President Aquino is answerable for what happened in Mamasapano. Hence, if he was responsible for that tragic operation, then he should apologize,” he said.
Legal action
Joyas said Aquino will possibly face a string of charges in relation to the Mamasapano clash after his term ends on June 30, 2016.
“But any legal action against President Aquino will not come from the IBP. That is not the kind of action that the IBP will take,” he said.
Joyas said the IBP will also not support calls for Aquino to step down from the presidency.
“The IBP is not in favor of the president resigning. We want him to finish his term because the moment the president resigns, there will be so many problems that will crop up. Let him finish his term. Anyway, his accountability and liability will be raised after his term expires next year,” Joyas said.
Provisions
Over 2,000 lawyers from different parts of the country gathered in Cebu City for the three-day 15th National Lawyers Convention which will end tomorrow.
Asked if he’s personally satisfied with Aquino’s performance as president, Joyas declined to answer. On the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Joyas said it is proper for the government to sit down and revisit its provisions.
While the government must continue the peace process, it should involve all the parties, not limit it to MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front),” he said.
Deal
The BBL is seen by the government to redraw the map of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and nearby areas as it aims to establish a larger, self-governing region.
On March 27, 2014, a comprehensive peace deal was signed between the government represented by President Benigno Aquino III and the MILF, closing two decades of negotiations started by former President Fidel Ramos in 1997.
But the Mamasapano clash last January 25 endangered efforts to forge peace with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
A police inquiry found Aquino responsible for the bloodbath in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.