Unless there’s a dramatic revelation which he has yet to disclose, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is wasting the public’s time by insisting on reopening the Mamasapano massacre inquiry.
After two days of hearings the chairperson of the Senate inquiry into the tragedy, Sen. Grace Poe, said there wasn’t anything new during the discussion that did not appear in the previously completed Senate report.
What the senator did harp on was the alleged US involvement in the operation which isn’t news even with the anti-American noise created as usual by the militant groups.
As the hearings showed, American aid was largely limited to providing assistance such as intelligence and materials. American officials are certainly not ignorant of the fact that public sentiment can turn adversarial towards any involvement from their end.
The same Senate report also recounted that an American official tried to persuade a military official to send assistance to the beleaguered Special Action Forces (SAF) troopers only to be rebuffed.
That being said, who would benefit from an extension of the Mamasapano inquiry? If Sen. Enrile thinks he would, he’s sadly mistaken. Again, if he has any evidence that can significantly color or change the outcome of the Senate report, the senator should present it now and not prolong the investigation any longer.
There were reports that the senator is using the Senate inquiry as a bargaining chip to effect the release of his alleged paramour and former staffer Gigi Reyes but that’s a cheap trick that even the senator shouldn’t deign to use especially in the twilight months of the Aquino administration.
Whether the senator has the support of the families of the fallen SAF troopers remains to be seen. President Aquino was met with a stony reception during the commemoration ceremony on January 25, when he posthumously awarded medals of honor to their dead loved ones.
This came a year after the president gave them the cold shoulder and even lectured them about sacrifice to the country.
If anything, the Senate inquiry only highlighted further the incompetence of sacked SAF commander-turned-senatorial aspirant Getulio Napeñas, who was accused by fellow police and military officials of “blaming everyone but himself” for the debacle that is the Mamasapano massacre.
With the promised exposé proving to be a dud, even the chairman of the investigating committee, Sen. Grace Poe, finds it irrelevant to pursue the inquiry further sending the signal to everyone including Enrile, that the country should move forward and learn from it rather than continue to dwell on the tragedy that has become yet another dark chapter in our country’s history.
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