ZAMBOANGA CITY – “We knew he was not in a good mood. It was like he was having a bad hair day.”
This was how an Inquirer source described President Aquino when he arrived on a chartered plane at the Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB) here in the morning of Jan. 25, at the height of the fighting in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that left 44 police commandos, 18 rebels and five civilians dead.
The source who was privy to the president’s visit in this city, said Aquino “was not smiling” when he came down from the plane past 10 a.m.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and his staff were with the President. Earlier that day, a C-130 cargo plane landed. Its passengers included Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and their respective staff. Maj. Gen. Esmeraldo Magnaye, 3rd Air Division Commander, said the two aircraft did not stop at the usual ramp near Gate 1, but taxied towards the Base Operations office.Both the Inquirer source and Magnaye confirmed that the President did not leave the Base Operations office when he was inside the EAAB.
Short notice
The President’s visit surprised the local government, which was informed afternoon of Jan. 24. “We were all surprised by the short notice,” a source from the city government said.
As soon as Aquino arrived at the Base Operations office, he called for a briefing, which was attended by the Cabinet secretaries; Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar; Rep. Celso Lobregat; Rep. Lilia Nuno; as well as military and police officials. The 10 a.m. to noon briefing was focused on the rehabilitation efforts of Zamboanga City. But at 1 p.m., Soliman, Abad, Salazar, Lobregat and Nuno left the room. The source said the President, Gazmin and all the military and police officers were left inside the room.
An hour later, Soliman and the others were told to return to the room and “were informed to be ready for the site visit and inspection.” At 2:30 p.m., all the vehicles that would be used for the site inspection were on “engine ready mode” but it took almost an hour to wait for the President to come out.
“When he (Aquino) went out of the room, mas lalong aburido ang mukha nya (he looked even more upset),” the source said. The site visit was scheduled for 10 a.m..
After going around the city, the President and his entourage arrived at the EAAB at 5 p.m.. “We were all expecting that the President would immediately leave,” the source said. But another security briefing was held.
Google maps
The source said he “peeped” inside the room and saw “images flashed on the projector’s screen– Google maps and timelines–and that was where I got a little idea that something was wrong.”
“At about 6 p.m., President Aquino and his top military and police officials moved further inside another room, which was out of our view. We called the other room ‘inner sanctum,’” the source said./Inquirer
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