While the Catholic Church holds the International Eucharistic Congress today, the Senate is resuming back at the nation’s capital its investigation into the Mamasapano massacre which marks its first year today.
The reinvestigation came about after Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who was smarting from the Aquino administration’s prosecution of him along with two other senators for the pork barrel scandal, claimed to have found new evidence proving that President Benigno Aquino III had known that the operation to take down Indonesian bomb-maker Marwan was going to hell but did nothing to save the 42 Special Action Forces police troopers who died.
The reopening could not have been more opportune for those wishing to take down not only the President but also his Liberal Party (LP) slate and his chosen successor, Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, come this May’s elections.
The motive may be clear from Enrile’s end but a lot of Filipinos may want to know if reopening the investigation is worth it considering that the national government has spent so much time and resources going after those who are directly responsible for the botched operations and have come up with nothing to show for it.
Reopening year-old wounds may be difficult especially to those families of the SAF troopers whose search for justice seems to be going nowhere but if only to really determine if President Aquino sacrificed those troopers in order not to jeopardize the peace talks, then the Senate reinvestigation should proceed.
Again the spotlight will be focused on Sen. Grace Poe, whose deft and moderate handling of the Senate investigation into the tragedy, catapulted her into the national consciousness and transformed her into presidential timber.
We simply cannot divorce this inquiry not only with the election season but with the fate of the Bangsamoro Basic Law which is supposed to be decided on by Congress within the month.
One of the key figures in the tragedy, former SAF commander Getulio Napeñas, Jr., had declared his bid for a Senate seat in an apparent effort to clear his name and pin the blame on the Aquino administration, principally former PNP chief and Aquino buddy Alan Purisima.
More importantly, however, the inquiry serves to remind President Aquino about his cavalier way and insensitive handling of the incident in which he could have shown at least his regret for the deaths of the SAF troopers.
As his term winds down, the public needs to see if the President had shown some remorse and acknowledgment about his administration’s failure to protect those who were mandated to serve and protect the public.
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