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Republic of the Philippines

CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES


SENATE
Pasay City

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS


JOINT WITH THE
COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION;
AND FINANCE

Date

Monday, February 9, 2015

Time

10:00 a.m.

Venue

Session Hall
2nd Floor, Senate of the Philippines
Financial Center, Roxas Blvd.
Pasay City

Agenda

Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1133Resolution Directing the Proper Senate


Committee to Conduct an Inquiry, In Aid of
Legislation, on the Facts and Circumstances
Surrounding the Death of at Least 43
Members of the Philippine National Police in
an Encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters (BIFF) (Introduced by Sen.
Sotto)
Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1134Resolution Urging the Senate Committees on
Public Order and Dangerous Drugs; Peace,
Unification
and
Reconciliation;
Local
Government;
and
Other
Appropriate
Committees to Conduct an Investigation, in
Aid of Legislation, on the Death of At least
Fifty (50) members of the Philippine National
Police-Special Action Force (SAF) in a Clash
with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
and
Other
Elements
in
Mamasapano,
Maguindanao
on
January
25,
2015
(Introduced by Sen. Ejercito-Estrada)
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COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT WITH THE


COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION; AND
FINANCE
Monday, February 9, 2015
Page 2

Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1135Resolution Urging the Senate Committee on


Public Order and Dangerous Drugs to Conduct
an Inquiry, in Aid of Legislation on the Killings
of Members of the Special Action Force (SAF)
of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in
Mamasapano, Maguindanao in Relation to the
Proposed
PNP
Modernization
Program
(Introduced by Sen. Poe)
Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1136Resolution Directing the Proper Committee to
Conduct an Inquiry in Aid of Legislation on
the Police Operation in Mamasapano,
Maguindanao which Resulted in the Death of
Forty-Four Police Officers and Eight Members
of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF) and Injuries to Others
(Introduced by Sen. Guingona)
Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1137Resolution
Urging
the
Proper
Senate
Committee to Conduct an Inquiry, in Aid of
Legislation, on the Alleged Attack of
Philippine National Police in Maguindanao
MILF
controlled
Area
Without
Proper
Coordination with the Special Action Forces
Causing the Death of 44 SAF Members and
12 Wounded in Action (Introduced by Sen.
Ejercito)
Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1138Resolution Directing the Proper Senate
Committee to Conduct an Inquiry, in Aid of
Legislation,
on
the
Firefight
Between
Government and Rebel Forces That Left 44
Police Commandos Dead in Maguindanao
(Introduced by Senator Defensor-Santiago)

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT WITH THE


COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION; AND
FINANCE
Monday, February 9, 2015
Page 3

Senate Bill No. 2603- An Act Creating a


Fact-finding Commission, to be Called the
Mamasapano Truth Commission, with Plenary
Powers to Investigate and Report Upon the
Deaths and Injuries of Members of the
Special Action Force Unit of the Philippine
National Police in Mamasapano, Maguindanao
(Introduced by Sens. Guingona, Aquino and
Pimentel)
Privilege Speech of Senator Guingona
delivered on February 2, 2015, entitled,
Tiwala

ATTENDANCE
SENATORS PRESENT:
HON. GRACE POE
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.

-Chairperson, Committee on
Public Order and Dangerous
Drugs
TEOFISTO L. GUINGONA III-Chairman, Committee on Peace
Unification and Reconciliation
FRANCIS G. ESCUDERO
-Chairman, Committee on Finance
GREGORIO B. HONASAN II-Vice Chair, Committee on
Public Order and Dangerous
Drugs
AQUILINO PIMENTEL III -Vice Chair, Committee on Peace
Unification and Reconciliation
SERGIO R. OSMEA III
-Vice Chair, Committee on
Finance
FERDINAND R. MARCOS JR.-Member
CYNTHIA A. VILLAR
-Member
LOREN LEGARDA
-Member
PIA S. CAYETANO
-Member
PAOLO BENIGNO BAM AQUINO IV-Member
ANTONIO SONNY F. TRILLANES IV-Member
SONNY ANGARA
-Member
MARIA LOURDES NANCY S. BINAY-Member
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COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION; AND
FINANCE
Monday, February 9, 2015
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HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.
HON.

JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO-Member


RALPH G. RECTO
-Ex-officio member
ALAN PETER S. CAYETANO-Ex-officio member
VICENTE C. SOTTO III
-Ex-officio member
FRANKLIN M. DRILON
-Senate President

GUESTS/RESOURCE PERSONS:
Hon. Voltaire Gazmin
Hon. Mar Roxas
Hon. Leila De Lima
Hon. Teresita Quintos Deles
Hon. Natalio Ecarma III
Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer
Mr. Rasid Ladiasan
Mr. Butch Malang
PDG Alan LM Purisima
PDDG Leonardo A. Espina
Chief Supt. Getulio P. Napeas
Chief Supt. Noli Talio
Gen. Pio P. Catapang Jr.
MGen. Edmundo R. Pangilinan
Mr. Benjamin B. Magalong
Hon. Mujiv Hataman
Lt/Gen. Rustico O. Guerrero
Mr. Yasser Ampatuan
Mr. Claro Arellano

-Secretary, Department of
National Defense (DND)
-Secretary, Department of the
Interior and Local Government
(DILG)
-Secretary, Department of
Justice (DOJ)
-Secretary, Presidential Adviser
on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
-Undersecretary, DND
-Chairperson, Government Peace
Negotiating Panel for Talks with
the MILF
-Chairman, MILF Coordinating
Committee on the Cessation
of Hostilities (CCCH)
-Head, MILF-CCCH Secretariat
-Chief, Philippine National
Police (PNP)
-Officer-in-Charge, PNP
-PNP-Special Action Force (SAF)
-Officer-in-Charge, PNP-SAF
-Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP)
-Commander, 6th Infantry
Division, Philippine Army
-Director, CIDG/BOI
-Governor, Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
-Commander, Western Mindanao
Command, AFP
-LGU
-DOJ
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FINANCE
Monday, February 9, 2015
Page 5

Prof. Julkipli M. Wadi


Mayor Datu Benzar A. Ampatuan
Mr. Senen Bacani
B/Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr.
Major Carlos Sol
B/Gen. Manolito Orense
PS/Supt. Rodelio B. Jocson

-Dean, Institute of Islamic


Studies, UP Diliman
-Mayor, Municipality of
Mamasapano, Maguindanao
-Panel Member, Government
Peace Negotiating Panel for
Talks with the MILF
-Chairperson, GPH-CCCH
-Secretariat Head, GPH-CCCH
-Chair, GPH-Ad Hoc Joint Action
Group
-PNP Maguindanao Provincial
Office

SENATORS STAFF:
Atty. Camille Sevilla
Ms. Aria Miguelle Alom
Atty. Roberto Valenzuela Jr.
Atty. Placido O. Garcia III
Ms. Gem Hernandez
Mr. Ron Gino
Atty. Mark Robert Dy
Ms. Judith Lee
Ms. Tanya Faye O. Ramiro
Mr. Alan Bobino
Ms. Hajilyn Javier
Atty. Valery Joy A. Brion-Dolojan
Mr. Ryan Martin T. Macalatan
Mr. Ronald F. Munsayac
Ms. Maila Carandang
Ms. Arlene Magtalas
Ms. Bernadeth Romero
Ms. Careen Sapallo
Mr. Christian Sanza
Ms. Ayn D. Nepomuceno
Ms. Sheryl Vargas
Ms. Joan Narvaez
Mr. Anthony Torres
Ms. Macel Jimenez
Ms. Cherry Dacanay
Ms. Patty. Tuga

-O/S Poe
-O/S Poe
-O/S Poe
-O/S Poe
-O/S Poe
-O/S Poe
-O/S Guingona
-O/S Guingona
-O/S Guingona
-O/S Guingona
-O/S Escudero
-O/S Pimentel
-O/S Pimentel
-O/S Pimentel
-O/S Trillanes
-O/S Trillanes
-O/S Trillanes
-O/S Trillanes
-O/S Ejercito
-O/S Ejercito
-O/S Ejercito
-O/S Ejercito
-OSP Drilon
-OSP Drilon
-O/S A. Cayetano
-O/S A. Cayetano
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COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT WITH THE


COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION; AND
FINANCE
Monday, February 9, 2015
Page 6

Mr. Claro Regino B. Sampaga


Ms. Ana Bartolome
Ms. Joan Revoltar
Mr. Aris Liwag
Mr. Mark Gamboa
Ms. Michel C. Palma
Ms. Rikka Sotto
Ms. Kristela Castronuevo
Ms. Rachel Sibugan-Herrera
Atty. Alain Baguisi
Ms. Hazel Villarba
Atty. Leandro Aguirre
Ms. Sugar Sallador
Ms. Elaiza Balajadia
Ms. Degee Uy-Anastacio
Ms. Julie Mar Dec Buenaventura
Ms. Kathleen Sonza
Atty. Lezel Devilla-Andaman
Mr. Juan Miguel M. Altavas
Atty. Jose Cadiz Jr.
Atty. Minda O. Lavarias
Mr. Jun Almalbis
Mr. Michael Benjamin
Ms. Rizza Calimag
Ms. Cecile Palines
Ms. Ares C. Goyena

-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S
-O/S

Osmea
Osmea
Osmea
Recto
Recto
Recto
Recto
Recto
Legarda
Angara
Angara
Angara
Angara
Lapid
P. Cayetano
P. Cayetano
Sotto
Sotto
Sotto
Marcos
Marcos
Honasan
Honasan
Binay
Aquino
Aquino

SENATE SECRETARIAT:
Atty. Antonette B. Cordero
Ms. Suharni Candao
Ms. Helen S. Gayapa
Ms. Marivic H. Ulep
Ms. Cindell B. Gealan
Mr. Rommel P. Alger
Ms. Merlene J. Palaganas
Ms. Bathaluman H. Gonzales
Ms. Maribel P. Mendoza
Mr. Guillermo E. Sapinoso Jr.
Ms. Nida A. Mancol

-Acting Committee Secretary


-Committee Secretary
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
-Committee Stenographer
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COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT WITH THE


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Ms. Jocelyn A. Dela Cruz


Mr. Larry Barruga
Mr. Jimmy Gaviola
Ms. Eloisa Tecson
Mr. Hernani Novero
Ms. Aren Aguila
Ms. Gina Dellomes
Ms. Mary Jeanette Padilla
Ms. Laarni C. Vidal
Mr. Ronnie Cabaero
Mr. Eric Jalandoon
Mr. Menardo Bago
Mr. Hizar Sarmiento

-Committee Stenographer
-Assisting Clerk
-Assisting Clerk
-Assisting Clerk
-Assisting Clerk
-Assisting Clerk
-Assisting Clerk
-Legislative Committee Page
-Legislative Committee Page
-Legislative Committee Page
-Legislative Committee Page
-Legislative Committee Page
-Audio Operator

[For complete list, please see attached Attendance Sheet]

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT


WITH THE COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND
RECONCILIATION; AND FINANCE
HSGayapa
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February 09, 2014
10:02 a.m.
1

AT 10:02 A.M., HON. GRACE POE, CHAIRPERSON


OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND
DANGEROUS DRUGS, CALLED THE HEARING TO ORDER.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Magandang umaga po sa

inyong lahat.
The joint public hearing of the Committee on Public Order and
Dangerous

Drugs;

the

Committee

on

Peace,

Unification

and

Reconciliation; and the Committee on Finance is called to order.


The members of the Committee share with the nation a collective
grief brought about by the deadly incident in Mamasapano that claimed
the lives of 44 members of the Special Action Force of the PNP and our
Muslim brothers.
Bago po tayo mag-umpisa, hihingi po ako ng ilang sandaling
katahimikan upang magpasalamat at ipanalangin ang ating mga
namayapang magigiting na PNP police officers kasama na rin po ang
mga nagpapagaling ngayon na mga nasugatan.

[Silent Prayer]

Iniakda ni Gat Andres Bonifacio ang mga salitang ito:


Aling

pag-ibig

pa

ang

hihigit

kaya

sa

pagkadakila

at

pagkadalisay gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa?


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Aling pag-ibig pa, wala na nga, wala.
Kung ang bayang itoy masasapanganib at siya ay dapat na
ipagtangkilik, ang anak, asawa, magulang, kapatid, isang tawag niyay
tatalikdang pilit.
Ipahandog-handog ang buong pag-ibig at hanggang may dugoy
uubusing itigis.
Kung sa pagtatanggol buhay ay mapatid, itoy kapalaran at
tunay na langit.
Inihandog ng SAF 44 ang kanilang buhay sa pinakamataas na
sakripisyo na magagawa ng isang pulis, ang mamatay sa linya ng
tungkulin.

Nararapat lamang na suklian natin ito ng sigasig sa

paghahanap ng katotohanan sa pagdinig na ito.

Ang paglabas ng

katotohanan ang unang hakbang sa pagbibigay ng katarungan sa


sinapit ng SAF 44.

Utang nating lahat sa kanila, sa kanilang mga

naulila at sa sambayanang nagdadalamhati ang pagpapalabas ng


totoong naganap sa Mamasapano noong Enero 25 ng walang itinatago,
walang pinipili at walang interes kung hindi ang tuparin ang tungkuling
iniatas sa atin.
To set facts into perspective and as Senators Sotto, Estrada,
Guingona, Ejercito, and this representation identified in the five Senate
resolutions in todays agenda, let me briefly reiterate the following:

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ORDER AND DANGEROUS DRUGS JOINT


WITH THE COMMITTEES ON PEACE, UNIFICATION AND
RECONCILIATION; AND FINANCE
HSGayapa
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February 09, 2014
10:02 a.m.
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One, on January 25, 2015, members of the Philippine National
Polices elite Special Action Force led an operation in Mamasapano,
Maguindanao.

The operation was set to have targeted top terrorists

Sulkifli Abdhir also known as Marwan, an alleged bomb maker who


was believed to be a member of Jemaah Islamiyah and alleged BIFF
commander, Basit Usman. Marwan is listed in the United States FBIs
Most Wanted Terrorists list.
Two, a substantial number of SAF members were involved in the
operation, 392 in all, according to the PNP. Forty-four members of SAF
died while more than at least a dozen were injured in the day-long
encounter.
On the part of the Committee on Public Order, we are conducting
this hearing to determine what happened as well as to provide longterm institutional mechanisms, solutions or even laws to avoid
repetition of the same tragic large-scale loss of lives.
First, the Committees need answer on command and control
issues, tactical implementation and strategic planning are equally
important.

One can lead to the success or failure of the other.

Questions like, who ordered the operation? Who was in command


during

the

operation?

Was

the

operation

cleared

by

the

PNP

leadership? Up to what level was the operation authorized? Who had


tactical command?

Where were the operational tactical commanders


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during the encounter? What coordination was undertaken with friendly
forces such as the AFP before and during the operations? With whom
in the AFP and at what point or even with the MILF were coordinations
undertaken? What role did foreign intelligence and operations take in
the mission, if any?
Second, the Committees would like to raise questions about
some fundamentals in combat operations and intelligence.

It seems

that there may have been a lack of intelligence preparations of the


battlefield or IPB.

While there could have been good intelligence on

who the target personality was, Marwan in this case, the Committees
would like to be apprised of such equally important matters as the
presence of who, what, where, and how many were the friendly and
hostile forces in the targeted area as well as in the areas of ingress
and egress to and from the target areas.
Alam natin na ang isang kawal o pulis kahit na may sapat na
pagsasanay ay sumusunod lamang sa mga utos o inuutos ng kanilang
mga pinuno. Sa pagkakataong ito, maaaring may sapat na intelligence
kung sino ang dapat dakpin sa bisa ng warrant of arrest na kailangang
ihain kay Marwan subalit sapat din kaya ang kaalaman ng mga pinuno
at ng mga pulis tungkol sa marami pang ibang bagay na gaya ng
nabanggit ko o hindi kaya ang kasalatan sa kinakailangang intel ang
siyang punot dulo ng kaawa-awang pagkasawi ng ating puwersa.
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Dapat nating malaman ito.

Isinubo ba ng kanilang mga pinuno ang

mga pulis sa kanilang malagim na kamatayan?


Pangatlo, gustong malaman ng Komite kung sapat ang bilang at
kakayahan ng puwersang sumabak sa operasyon. Assuming that there
was good intelligence that included the points raised earlier, why did
the PNP employ only a small number of forces? Only one strike unit
platoon and only one backup unit platoon.
The PNP claims to have had 392 troops involved in the operation
but there was obviously no effective reinforcement employed while the
firefight was ongoing. Ano po ang dahilan dito?
Fourth, the training of police forces.

Another compelling

question that we seek answers to is this issue: Were the troops who
were deployed and utilized sufficiently trained for this type of warfare
and in that kind of environment and for that type of operation?
The Chair was informed that the operation which was undertaken
was a semi-conventional rural jungle operation involving mass enemy
forces. Wasnt there an evident mismatch of forces? If so, who is or
are responsible for the proper assignments and proper number of
assignees? Who decided which men and how many men was the right
fit for the operation?

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The Committees also wishes to be enlightened about the
equipage of forces.

Were our police troops provided with the

appropriate weapons and other needed equipment for such operation?


Higit na mahalaga sa mga tanong at sagot sa pangyayaring ito
ay ang pag-asam-asam din na malaman kung may pagtitiwala bang
naiiwan sa lahat ng partidong kasama sa usaping pangkapayapaan.
Halimbawa, nais ng Komite na hingin sa MILF ang sinseridad nito sa
pananatili sa usapin ng peace process. To show its sincerity, would the
MILF be ready either to identify the perpetrators and at the very least
impose appropriate and acceptable sanctions? And if the MILF is truly
a partner in keeping the peace in the areas under their control, would
they commit to a specific time frame to clear the area of BIFF forces
together with government forces?
Bago

magsimula

ang

mga

indibidual

na

katanungan

or

interpellations, mahalagang maintindihan natin ang buong kaganapan.


Kaya para sa pagdinig ngayong araw na ito, uunahin naming tawagin
ang mga sumusunod:
Si

Secretary

Mar

Roxas

bilang

tagapamuno

ng

DILG

na

sumasaklaw sa PNP; at pagkatapos naman niya ang mga ibang


magsasalita sa hanay ng PNP kasama na po diyan si Director Getulio
Napeas, dating pinuno ng SAF (Special Action Force) na nangunguna
sa insidente sa Mamasapano; at si Director General Leonardo Espina
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bilang pinakamataas na opisyal ng PNP sa kasalukuyan.

Iyong mga

ibang resource persons po natin na nasa ground noong nangyari ito


katulad po ni Superintendent Raymond Train.../hsg

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). ...Superintendent Raymond


Train at ni PO2 Christopher Lalan, sila po ay puwede nating makausap
sa hiwalay na pagkakataon para hindi po sila nandito ngayon sa ating
pagdinig dahil na rin po sa kanilang pisikal na kalagayan at sa kanilang
seguridad. Sila po ay naririto pero maaaring kausapin po namin sila ng
mga Senador sa hiwalay na pagkakataon.
Pagkatapos po sa hanay ng PNP, tatanungin din po natin si
Secretary Voltaire Gazmin bilang kalihim ng Department of National
Defense. At pagkatapos po niya ay si General Edmundo Pangilinan na
siyang head ng 6th Infantry Division ng Army sa Maguindanao.
Para maayos at masusi ang pagkalap ng mga testimonya,
hihilingin natin na simulan nila ang kanilang salaysay sa mga
pangyayari mula nang nagkaroon ng intel na nasa Maguindanao nga si
Marwan, hanggang sa kainitan ng operasyon sa mga araw ng Enero
24-25 hanggang sa matapos at makalap ang ating mga namayapa at
mailigtas ang mga natitira pang mga pulis.
Ang mga resource persons po natin ay bigyan natin ng
pagkakataon magsalita, iyong atin pong nabanggit at pagkatapos po
noon, puwede po tayong mag-umpisa sa ating mga katanungan.
For purposes of orderly discussions, the Committees shall allow
our resource persons appropriate time to present their statements and

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knowledge on the issues at hand. All resource persons are required to


provide the Secretariat copies of their respective position statements.
The members of the three Senate Committees are given five
minutes each for their questions in every round and we shall use the
order of arrival as basis for the sequence of committee members to
ask their questions.
For today's hearing, I would like to acknowledge all the senators
present here today; Secretary Mar Roxas; Secretary Voltaire Gazmin;
Secretary Leila de Lima; the representative of Secretary Ochoa, Atty.
Musngi; Secretary Ging Deles; and all other resource persons here
today including those from the PNP, the AFP and the local governments
and the members of the Peace Panel.
SEN. MARCOS. Madam Chairperson.
Madam Chairperson, if I may? Before we proceed, I would just
like the body to also acknowledge, although they are not resource
persons, the presence of some of the family members who have come
down from Cordillera to attend the hearings. They are: Ms. Lourdes
Salingsing who is the aunt of PO2 Noble Kiangan of Mankayan,
Benquet; and Mr. Victor Bumatnog, the uncle; Ms. Sarah Bumatnog,
the cousin of PO1 Russel Bilog of Baguio City; Ms. Julie Cayang-o,
wife; and Ms. Melody Lapaan, sister-in-law of PO1 Gringo Cayang-o of
Happy Hollow, Baguio City; and the brothersHarison Golocan,
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Anselmo Golocan, Ryan Golocan of PO3 Noel Golocan from Lepanto,


Mankayan, Benguet. They are here to observe the proceedings, Madam
Chair, and they have asked for assistance from my office. They asked
for nothing except justice. That's all.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SEN. SOTTO. Parliamentary inquiry, Madam Chair, if you don't
mind?
Last Wednesday, we suggested that the survivors be invited. I
understand that in your opening statement, you mentioned something
to that effect that we will not take them first as suggested.
May we know the-THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes, sir.
For their security, they have shown courtesy to the Senate body
by being present here today, but we may have to talk to them
separately to get their sworn statements. And if ever we need to share
it, we will not ask for their physical presence here in the session hall
unless there's some objections from--and also for their health reasons,
Senator Sotto.
So, if there's any comments regarding this-SEN. HONASAN. Madam Chair, beyond the issue of the security
of the witnesses that will be called, as it is, we are on hot pursuit

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operations. Lives are involved of our ground operatives including


possibly innocent civilians.
So, it is in this light that we manifest formally in this hearing the
need for utmost security as a consideration in not only the appearance
of witnesses but in the information that will be shared with the
Committees in a public hearing like this.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes, Mr. President.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. I think you have properly set the
parameters upon which this inquiry will be conducted and you rightfully
identified our resources persons who will make the initial presentation.
This is not the first and only hearing, there will be other hearings.
So, may I request that we proceed in accordance with what you
have suggested and hear the resource persons. All the others we can
hear in a subsequent hearing so that we can have an orderly
presentation. We are here to find out facts, to find out the truth so that
may I suggest to the Chair that we proceed in accordance with what
the Chair has directed to be the order of the presentation and after
which, we can have all the questions and we can have the other
resource persons that the senators may wish to call in a subsequent

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hearing. But in this particular hearing, the order that was announced
by the Chairman, I think, is in order.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SEN. MARCOS. Madam Chair, if I may?
Last procedural point, Madam Chair, if I may? Perhaps I would
like to suggest that for some of the testimony of the resource persons
that they might choose to request that they provide such testimony in
executive session, both for the reasons given by Senator Honasan and
for their own, I suppose, ability to be candid and speak openly. So as a
suggestion, perhaps maybe not these witnesses that we have here but
those that will be following.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes, Senator Marcos, in the
appropriate time, we will determine that. As members of the
Committee, we will determine if there is reason for it to be in executive
session. And if so, if there's really a threat to national security or for
their person, before we can really authorize that

the information be

withheld from the public.


SEN. MARCOS. Thank you, Madam Chair.
SEN. A. CAYETANO. Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes.
SEN. A. CAYETANO. Just on that point, Madam Chair.

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I have the privilege and the opportunity to talk to the survivors


last week when I visited them. And while it is true that some of them
are still recovering and cannot come here, there were a couple who
were willing to come here but they requested that, one, their names
not be released because Marwan's cells are still active and their
families and their communities can be in danger.
Secondly, they said that they would like to speak in front of the
camera. However, their faces, if possible, will be covered so that their
identity will not be discovered. And then if there is anything that has to
do with national security or operational security, they will stop.
Unfortunately, for I don't know what reason or many reasons,
the media got hold of the names of these survivors and it was already
in the media on Saturday and Sunday.
So, may I request, Madam Chair, to avoid, you know, a
miscommunication especially with the survivors and with the families
of those who do have threats, maybe the PNP and AFP can have a
liaison officer with the Committee all throughout these hearings to be
able to advise the Secretariat which names can be released, et cetera.
I think iyon po iyong sinasabi ni Senator Honasan that sometimes, the
mere release of the names already endangers the family of these
people, Madam Chair.

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So, having said that, I leave it up to you, Madam Chair, and my


office is also open because we're continuing to talk to them. And the
information this morning is that they can speak out but to protect their
identities. Sila daw, okay lang sila, pati iyong mga pamilya nila at
iyong mga classmates kasama nila sa kampo, iyon ang inaalala nila,
Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). All noted. Let us begin our
discussion.
Perhaps, Senator TG Guingona as chairman of the secondary
committee hearing this, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation would
like a brief opening statement.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mga kababayan, dahil sa trahedya sa Mamasapano, nagkaroon
ng malalim na lamat sa tiwalang matagal na nating binubuo, ng
magkabilang panig sa usaping pangkapayapaan sa Mindanao.
Tatlong punto lang ang ibig kong iparating sa lahat. Number one,
gawin natin ang lahat.../mhu

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). gawin natin ang lahat


upang lumitaw ang katotohanan. Katotohanan lamang ang daan tungo
sa katarungan para sa SAF 44

at katarungan

para sa lahat.

Katotohanan lamang ang magbabalik ng tiwala sa isat-isa. Kailangan


ituloy natin ang usaping pangkapayapaan na nakabase sa katotohanan
at katarungan at ng sa ganoon manumbalik ang pagtitiwala sa isat-isa.
Point number two, mayroong nagsasabi na dapat mag-resign na
si Pangulong Noynoy Aquino.

Mali iyan.

Hinding hindi tama ang

magresign. Now, more than ever, we need a leader that can navigate
us through these difficult times. Si Pangulong Noynoy Aquino ang ama
ng ating bayan at naniniwala ako na kasama natin siya at siya ay
tutulong sa paghahanap ng katotohanan.
Point number three, mayroon diyan sumisigaw na ang kailangan
na ngayon all-out war. Mali din iyan. Hindi iyan ang tamang landas.
Alam nating lahat, lalung-lalo na ang mga sundalo at mga pulis, na
pagdating sa digmaan walang panalo.

Ang unang mabibiktima diyan

ang mga sibilyan, mga nanay, mga bata, mga pamilya. Pagdating ng
digmaan walang mananalo.
Iyon lang po. Magandang umaga sa lahat.
Assalamu alaikum.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Thank you, Senator TG.
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Senator Frank Drilon, Senate President.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Just very briefly.
First of all, let me reiterate my appreciation for the Chair having
set the parameters upon which this inquiry done in aid of legislation will
be conducted.
Last January 25, the country gained 44 new heroes. Sadly, we
also lost the lives of all the 44. Since then, Madam Chair, the operation
to capture Marwan and Usman had to endure public outrage and a
barrage of criticism stemming from the supposed flaws in how the
operation was conducted. The profuse and intense focus on the errors
of the operation, perceived or real, has taken the center stage and has
nearly eclipsed the bravery and heroism of our SAF commandos and
what they had accomplished.

Indeed, there are many questions

begging for answers. The truth, no matter how painful, must come out.
Lives were lost, we must find out why. But our search for that whys
and the hows must not be obscured by the blinding impulse or the
single minded purpose to merely find fault or to finger-point or lay the
blame for blames sake. For us to turn against each other now would
be nearly as tragic as the loss of 44 lives and that is exactly what the
enemies of peace would want to happen.

The hundreds of Marwans

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and Usmans are still out there and would mock us from afar. If that
were to happen, our heroes would have died in vain.
To those who now have the privilege of asking questions, to those
who now have the responsibility of giving answers, and to the millions
who deserve to know, let us, in this inquiry, find out what happened,
why, could we have done things differently, was it worth it? Lives were
lost.

We must find out how lives could be safeguarded and saved in

future campaigns against terrorism and lawlessness.


The tragedy that has befallen our 44 heroes reveals the brute
force

and

mercilessness

of

terrorism.

This

evil

cannot

be

underestimated and at the culmination of this inquiry, we expect to


come out stronger in our fight against those threatening to cause
mayhem under the guise of advancing an ideology.
Let

us

capabilities.

review

our

counterterrorism

protocol

and

security

This is a crucial time in our quest for lasting peace in

Mindanao. The death of our 44 SAF commandos in the hands of the


MILF and the BIFF cannot be ignored and
To our brothers in the MILF, I ask, be one with us in finding the
truth in Mamasapano clash and in giving justice to the family of those
who have been slained. Let the guilty be punished. Be one with us in
our fight against terrorism and lawlessness. Do not provide refuge to
Usman and others of his kind. When the government goes after them,
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do not stand in the way. Rather, show us the way. Now, more than
ever, we must show to our people that we both desire peace.
We already lost 44 lives. Let not peace and justice be the 45th.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Thank you, Senator Drilon.
We shall now begin with the opening statement or the testimony
of Secretary Mar Roxas as the head of the DILG and the PNP.
Before we begin, may we ask all the resource persons to please
stand up and take their oath before the body.
Secretariat.
THE COMMITTEE SECRETARY. May I request all the resource
persons to please stand up and raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth in this
investigation in aid of legislation on the Mamasapano incident?
For the record, Madam Chair, all the resource persons gave their
affirmative answer.

[They are Sec. Mar Roxas; Sec. Leila De Lima;

Sec. Voltaire Gazmin; P/DG. Alan Purisima; PDDG. Mr. Leonardo


Espina; Ms. Miriam Coronel-Ferer; Usec. Senen Bacani; Sec. Teresita
Quintos-Deles; BGen. Carlito Galvez Jr.; Chief Supt. Noli Talio; Chief
Supt. Getulio Pascual Napeas; BGen. Manolito Orense; Major Carlos
Sol; P/CSupt. Noel Delos Reyes; P/SSupt. Noel Armilla; P/SSupt.
Rodelio Jocson; Gov. Mujiv Hataman; Mr. Rasid Ladiasan; Mr. Butch
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Malang; Gen. Pio Catapang Jr.; Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero; MGen.
Edmundo Pangilinan; Usec. Natalio Ecarma III]
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Thank you.
Secretary Mar.
SEN. HONASAN. Madam Chair, please forgive me, colleagues,
for raising this issue again.
Before Secretary Roxas makes his briefing, may we put on record
that the information that will be contained in his briefing reflect
declassified information that will not impact on the ongoing operations
because, let me reiterate this, Madam Chair and the distinguished
colleagues, lives are involved.

Any name we mention here might

impact on future operations and we will not achieve the purpose of this
briefing. So, Madam Chair, may I put that on record.
And as a final point, may we allow Secretary Roxas and Secretary
Gazmin, those who will initially provide information, to say so if the
information they will divulge as part of the briefing reflect classified
information so that we can manage this in a more secure and better
manner.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SEN. MARCOS.

Furthermore, Madam Chair, perhaps we can

allow our resource persons when asked a question that requires an


answer that reveals classified information, that they say so. If you are
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asked a question, ladies and gentlemen, about a classified information,


please inform the body that the answer would require you divulging
classified information and we will take note of that and we will not
publicize that classified information.
With your permission, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Yes.

I think that we trust

our representatives/resource persons enough that they should really


know if it will endanger the lives or it will jeopardize a particular
operation.

Well, its good to remind them but, again, this is your

prerogative to say if its classified but it is something that will also be


ultimately determined by the body later on if it is something that
should be classified. So
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Just one procedural matter.
May I request our colleagues just for an orderly presentation so
that we all understand what is being said, that we allow our resource
persons to speak without interruption.

The questions can come later

on.
Just as a procedural matter.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Duly noted, Senator Drilon.
If there are no other manifestations, we will now begin with our
presentation from the resource person of the DILG, Secretary Roxas.
MR. ROXAS. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Co-Chairs, Mr. Senate President, Senators, magandang umaga


po.
Before I begin, may I just make sure from the technician that
theOkay.
Magandang umaga po sa ating lahat/cbg

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MR. ROXAS.

sa ating lahat.

Sa ngalan ng Napolcom, ng PNP, ng DILG, nagpapasalamat po


kami sa pagkakataon na itong humarap sa inyong Komite at sa
Senado, sa sambayanan para masabi ang aming nalalaman tungkol
dito sa Mamasapano incident.
Over the last two weeks, 44 caskets lay in state all over our
country. These caskets were draped with a flag and had medals,
certificates and the beret signifying membership in the SAF on top of
them.
As each of these caskets were interred, these flags were
reverently folded, touched to the officers heart and gently given to the
widow and parents of the SAF policemen.
Madam Chair, the SAF got their man. They did their part. We
now must have to do ours.
Sa kasaysayan ng isang bansa, hindi maiiwasan na may mga
trabaho o misyon na mapanganib na kailangang gawin o mangyari. Sa
unipormadong hanay, ito iyong realidad ng kanilang pagsisilbi.
Bumbero, coast guard, sundalo, airman, navy, pulis, alam nila na
pagsuot nila noong kanilang uniporme, markado na sila unang-una. At
pangalawa, iyong uri noong kanilang trabaho ay mapanganib.

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It is our duty as a nation to make sure that whatever these


missions are, na una, karapat-dapat, worthwhile. Kung mapapalagay
sila sa panganib, worthwhile dapat. Karapat-dapat lamang ang
objective ng kanilang misyon.
Pangalawa, obligasyon din po natin na siguruhin na nasa sa
kanila ang sapat na kakayahan at kagamitan para magawa nila itong
tungkulin na ito.
At pangatlo, obligasyon din natin na mapa sa kanila ang lahat ng
tulong at suporta para mayroong reasonable chance of success ang
kanilang misyon.
These are the three parameters that we are looking at relative to
the Mamasapano events. And it is in that context that the PNP formed
a Board of Inquiry to find out in a transparent, objective and timely
manner the events that transpired.
Their work is not yet completed but we have here Director Benjie
Magalong, who concurrently is also the head of the CIDG who chairs
the Board of Inquiry. He and his investigators who are trained
debriefers, who are trained in asking questions and taking testimony
undertook the painstaking work of obtaining all of the information that
is available.
May I turn this over, Madam Chair, to Director Magalong.

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THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Director

Benjamin

Magalong, go ahead with the statement.


MR. MAGALONG. Thank you, maam.
Our Senate President, Madam Chair, Honorable Senators, ladies
gentlemen, good morning.
I am Police Director Benjamin Magalong, Director of the PNP
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. I am serving as the chair
of the Board of Inquiry or BOI created on orders of DILG Secretary Mar
Roxas issued on January 26 to establish the facts and circumstances
surrounding the SAF operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, from
January 24 to January 26 resulting in the death of 44 SAF troopers.
I am here to present the initial facts and circumstances of what
we have established so far based on 374 interviews, 318 sworn
statements, SMS and call logs and special reports submitted by the
PNP SAF, local police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines as of
February 8, 2015.
From January 26 until today, 46 investigators have spent 5,152
man hours collecting the data which serve as the basis of my
presentation.

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The information contained in my briefing is our understanding of


what happened and does not contain any prejudgment, findings or
conclusions.
The targets of SAFs operation were most wanted terrorists
Zulkifli bin Hir known as Marwan and Basit Usman, a BIFF
commander. Zulkifli was the primary target. He was a US-trained
engineer and was head of the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia and a
member of the Jemaah Islamiyahs central command. He was wanted
for multiple murders and frustrated murders related to his bombing
activities. He was an expert bomb maker, a trainer and personally
detonated explosives by remote control using cellular phones.
Marwan conducted training sessions in various places around
Mindanao. The slides show the places where these sessions were held.
He was also involved in multiple bombing incidents in Mindanao.
The locations of these incidents can be seen in the slide.
Marwan was the most notorious for the 2002 Bali bombing in
Indonesia which killed 202 and injured 209 people.
Marwans bombs and previous encounters with law enforcement
officers resulted in the death of 46 innocent civilians and injury to 207
others in the Philippines alone. These do not include the deaths,

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injuries and destruction of bombing perpetrated by students and


followers.
Abdul Basit Usman is a key commander in the BIFF. He is a
bomb make-expert who trains terrorists in assembling and planting
bombs. He has multiple warrants for deaths and injuries caused by his
bombing-related activities. He operates in central and southern
Mindanao.
Basit Usmans bombs killed a total of 17 innocent civilians and
injured 62 people from 2002 to 2008. The worst incident was in
General Santos City on April 21, 2002 which killed 15 people and
wounded 15 more or 55 more.
Reflected in the slides were special projects against Marwan and
their status. A total of 10 operations were launched. Only the last
succeeded in neutralizing these international terrorists. Clearly, with
their renowned notoriety and record of terror /rommel

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MR. MAGALONG.

...and record of terror activities, clearly

Marwan and Usman are high value and priority targets whose arrest or
capture was rightfully and legitimately pursued by the State. The plan
spelled out the employment of 392 SAF troopers assigned
Yes, sir.
MR. ROXAS.

Madam Chair, we ask for your indulgence, the

computer seems to be acting up. We have sent someone to do


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

We are just currently fixing

the system so that we can continue with our presentation.


Mayroon po ba kayong hard copy niyan? Gusto po ninyong tuloytuloy na lang po iyong basa para masundan na lang o kailangan talaga
natin makita iyong PowerPoint?
MR. ROXAS.

Kabahagi noong PowerPoint para mas madaling

maunawaan kung anong nangyari iyong movements at that time. We


have hard copies that we have submitted to the Committee but it
might not be so clear.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Okay. We will give it a few

more minutes.
We will suspend session for one minute.
[THE HEARING WAS SUSPENDED AT 10:44 A.M.]

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[THE HEARING WAS RESUMED AT 10:53 A.M.]

THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

The session will now

resume.
MR. MAGALONG.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The plan spelled out for the employment of 392 SAF troopers
assigned to 12 different operating groups for the mission. Their tasks
are shown in the slide. One group was assigned as the main effort;
four groups as support effortMy apologies, Madam Chair, we are
again encountering technical difficulty.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Sir, we will give you

another five minutes to hopefully have it fixed. Otherwise, in the


interest also of being able to cover as much material as we can today,
we need to proceed.
MR. MAGALONG.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[THE HEARING WAS SUSPENDED AT 10:55 A.M.]


[THE HEARING WAS RESUMED AT 10:57 A.M.]

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Mr. Secretary, while were

waiting for the audio-visual presentation, may we request that we be


supplied hard copies of your presentation?
MR. ROXAS.

Yes, maam.

THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Immediatelyas soon as

you can.
MR. ROXAS.

Yes, maam.

THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).


MR. ROXAS.
to the Secretariat.

Thank you.

I think that we provided a copy as well as a USB


Apparently, its here.

Theres another set here.

Please distribute to the senators.


SEN. BINAY. Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).
SEN. BINAY.

Yes, Senator Binay.

Baka iba hong resource persons will also have a

PowerPoint presentation, baka puwede hong ngayon pa lang bigyan na


tayo ng hard copy or kung kailangan pang i-photocopy, baka we can
already start doing it.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Duly noted, Senator Nancy.

Those that have PowerPoint presentations and actually your


sworn statements should be submitted to the Secretariat.

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MR. ROXAS.

I am informed that the computers are showing an

image in the computer screen.

But there mustthe wiringIm not

saying its the Senates equipment but the computer is showing an


image but I think that thewell try again.
But, anyway, Madam Chair, we are in Slide 13 in the handout.
This is Slide 13.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Maybe its a question of

compatibility because we normally dont have this problem in the


Senate.
Im looking at your hardcopy and a lot of the pages here cannot
really be explained without the visuals. I mean, at least the maps, it
will be hard to describe it with words alone.
MR. ROXAS.

Yes, maam.

Director Magalong, Madam Chair.


MR. MAGALONG.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The plan spelled out for the employment of 392 SAF troopers
assigned to 12 different operating groups for the mission. Their tasks
are shown in the slide. One group was assigned as the main effort;
four as support effort; two groups as blocking forces and two groups

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for routes security.

An advance command post and a tactical

command post were established for command and control.


The

area

Maguindanao.

of

operations

was

located

in

Mamasapano,

It is basically a marshland crisscrossed by rivers with

wide-open cornfields and irrigation canals.


This is a birds-eye view of the area shown to illustrate the
unfavorable terrain that SAF operatives have to contend with.
Non-government forces have significant presence in the area.
The map shows the general location and estimated strength of various
armed groups present in the area of operation. Notably,brhg

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MR. MAGALONG.

Notably, the 105th Based Command was

formerly led by Umbra Kato who is now head of the BIFF.


This slide shows the location of government forces in the area,
the PNPs presence is limited to five municipal police stations located in
Datu Saudi, Rajah Buayan, Shariff Saydona, Shariff Aguak and
Mamasapano. The Maguindanao Police Provincial Office is also located
in the area. The armys units are dispersed in company and battalionsize formations surrounding the area of operations.
This is the area map reflected our way points used in the
operation of plan.

They way points are set between the vehicular

drop-off point or VDOP and the target.


The 84th Special Action Company or well known as Seaborne was
designated as the main effort of the operation. It was tasked to enter
Marwans encampment and arrest Marwan and Usman. The plan called
for the deployment of the 55th, 45th, 42nd and 41st Special Action
Companies as containment forces along the entry and exit route of the
Seaborne.
The ACP is located at the VDOP along the Maharlika Highway
designated as the main supply route or MSR. It was guarded by the
43rd Special Action Company or 43rd SAC which was equipped with two
V-150 armored vehicles deployed hundreds of meters east and west of

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the ACP, 43rd SAC serves as a containment force and route security for
the MSR.
The exit plan called for the support containment forces to
withdraw, provide cover and security for the Seaborne troops as they
withdraw along the plan route. As can be seen from the comparison
maps, there is a gap between the plan and the actual. Except for the
Seaborne unit, the other units did not reach their designated positions.
The movement of the Seaborne took about two hours longer than
planned.

They were delayed by the difficult terrain and the strong

river current near the target.

The departure of the support groups

accordingly were delayed because the plan called for synchronization


of their movement with that of Seaborne.

Notwithstanding the

foregoing, the Seaborne was still able to reach its objective and
neutralize Marwan.
The bar graph is a schematic diagram reflecting the movement of
the various operating SAF groups toward their designated way points.
The green bar shows the plan positions while the blue bar shows the
actual positions of the operating groups. The numbers on the left side
of the graph shows the way points. Seaborne made its exit from the
target area under fire but still followed the plan route until way point
14.

Seaborne troops were determined to reinforce 55th SAC but

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because of the tremendous firepower and strength of the opposition,


the TCP or the Tactical Command Post and 55th SAC advised them not
to proceed with the linkup and instead move east. By this time, both
Seaborne and 55th SAC were under heavy rifle and mortar fire. While
moving, the Seaborne teams engaged various armed groups from all
directions, for hours until late in the afternoon at around 1800 they
fought their way out dragging their killed and wounded comrades.
The Seaborne went to linkup with elements of 42nd SAC and the
Division Reconnaissance Company of the Philippine Army at 2330 of
January 25.
Meanwhile, 55th SAC engaged nongovernment forces from
around 0520 to around 1300, 35 of its 36 members were killed in
action.

The actual time when the firefight ended is only at estimate

based on the last radio communication from the unit to the advanced
command post.
Meanwhile, ACP and other units on the MSR or along the MSR
have been under fire since 0830.
mechanized

brigade

of

the

army

In fact, three tanks of the


sent

to

reinforce

SAF

were

immobilized by persistent sniper fires from east of their location.


The highlight of the entire operations started with the call to TCP
at 0415 confirming the death of Marwan.

At 0506, the SAF director

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sent a message to the commander of the 6th Infantry Division to


inform him of the ongoing operation.

SAF director then sent his

deputy to the first mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of the


Philippines to ask for help and artillery support.

At 0638, the

coordinating committee on the Cessation of Hostilities or CCH was


informed of the ongoing encounter.
SAF requested for artillery support in several occasions between
0725 to 1735.

Seaborne reached its objective at 0415 of the 38

members. Of the 38 members of Seaborne, only 13 were able to cross


the river and engage Marwan in a firefight.

Other BIFF forces or

fighters were alerted of their presence when booby traps placed


around Marwans house exploded. Two troopers were wounded in the
initial engagement.

They endured several firefights along the way.

Their pursuers stopped firing only after the delivery of three white
phosphorous artillery rounds at around 1748. By the time they were
rescued before midnight, nine members of the Seaborne were killed in
action while 14 were wounded.

Seven police commissioned officers

and 37 police non-commissioned officers were killed, for a total of 44


SAF troopers killed in action.
In honor of the 44 heroes and the 15 wounded, the Board of
Inquiry is committed to complete its task of finding out what

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happened.

We will give justice to our SAF heroes by seeking the

truth.
Magandang araw po sa inyo. Maraming salamat po.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Maraming salamat po,

Director Magalong, sa inyong presentasyon at kinalap ninyong mga


impormasyon na inabot ng ilang libong oras at ilang mga tao sa inyong
hanay na gumawa ng trabaho na iyan.
Ang susunod naman po nating pakinggan ngayon ay ang
testimonya ng officer-in-charge ng PNP na si Leonardo Espina.
MR. ESPINA.
Chair.

Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat, Madam

All the senators, magandangYour Honors, if you please, I

have no presentation to make except one statement after that.


As a current head of your police force, I and all the 150,000
strong members of the Philippine National Police fully support the
peace process as we are first and foremost peacekeepers. However,
we seek for clear answers from the other party of the peace process on
the following questions: Forty-four of my men from the Special Action
Force were killed in a brutal and merciless passion. They were killed
while performing legitimate police operations to arrest a terrorist
bomber, a bomb trainer responsible for the death of scores of innocent

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Filipinos and who continue to be a serious threat for our peace-loving


citizens.
Your Honors, granting that my men failed to coordinate with the
other party who entered their area for the lawful arrest of these
terrorists who have a string of outstanding warrants of arrest for
serious crimes to humanity, was it enough reason for, No. 1, the
overkill of my men? There was clearly no intent to let anyone leave in
the

55th

SAC

or

Special

Action

Company

as

all

36

were

mercilessly/mpm

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MR. ESPINA. all 36 were mercilessly killed except for one who
was able to escape. Almost all were shot at close range in their heads
with high-powered rifles to see to it that they were dead. They were
stripped of their uniforms, clothes, firearms and personal belongings
and cellphones, even telling the wives of my men, Patay na ang
asawa mo, huwag ka nang tumawag.
Secondly, Your Honors, clearly embellished in the uniforms of my
men were Special Action Forces patches.

Therefore, clearly showing

that they belong to government which the other party knows they
have continuing peace talks with.
Thirdly, Your Honors, after killing all my men in the 55th, they
maneuvered and joined other forces in the area to kill some more of
my men belonging to the Seaborne Company.

This, after fully

realizing that the troops in there were from government.


We are all for peace, Your Honors, but we condemn in the
strongest terms the treatment they did to my men.

We respectfully

request to let them answer these questions, to let them answer for
these crimes and return all the firearms and equipment belonging to
us.

We, our policemen, Your Honors, wholeheartedly thank you for

this inquiry so that all of us, in our collective effort to investigate and
seek justice for our fallen heroes.

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Maraming, maraming salamat po.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).
Police Director Leonardo Espina.

We sympathize with you,

Thank you so much for your

statement.
I would like to acknowledge former PNP-SAF head, Getulio
Napeas, to please issue his statement.
MR. NAPEAS. Maraming salamat po, Madam Chairperson, the
Honorable Senator Grace Poe.
I salute our noble and gallant warriors.

To our Honorable

Senators, the officers, men and women of both the Philippine National
Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and to everyone inside
this session hall as well as those who are watching in their respective
homes, magandang umaga po sa ating lahat.
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. Ako po si Getulio P.
Napeas, tubong Luna, La Union, 55 years old, married and a graduate
of the Philippine Military Academy, Class of 1982. I have been in the
government service since 1978 when I entered the military for more
than 36 years now. After graduation from the PMA, I was immediately
assigned in the 54th Philippine Constabulary Battalion stationed in
Parang, Maguindanao.

A year later, I went on to undergo a Special

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Action

Force

Ranger

Course

followed

by

the

Urban

Counter

Constabulary

Regional

Revolutionary Warfare Course.


While

assigned

with

the

Philippine

Command XII, I handled various positions at the tactical level as


company commander of the Regional Special Action Company,
company commander in Iligan City and company commander in Sultan
Kudarat Province.
I left Regional Command 12 in 1988 and was posted at the
National Headquarters then went on to join the U.N. Mission in
Cambodia until 1993. I came back in 1993 and went back again in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 1995 up to 1996.

returned to National Headquarters in 1997 and joined the National


Headquarters, Philippine National Police.

Then left again for another

U.N. Mission in 2000 up to 2001, this time in East Timor.


Upon my return, I joined again the National Headquarters,
Philippine National Police for one year before I went on to another
mission in Kosovo, that was in 2002 to 2004. I returned from the U.N.
Mission and joined the Special Action Force for the second time in 2004
up to 2005 when I was posted as the provincial director of South
Cotabato Police Provincial Office.

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From South Cotabato, in 2007, I returned to the National


Headquarters, then again went back to the Special Action Force for the
third time in 2008 up to 2012.

In 2013, I was posted in Police

Regional Office 13 in CARAGA and in December of 2013 I returned


back for the fourth time at the Special Action Force until the moment
that I was relieved.
I attended various career courses at the Philippine National
Police and counter-terrorism operations training. If I may mention of
these courses:

Integrating Counter-terrorism Strategies at the

National Level; Police Leaders Role in Combating Terrorism; Senior


Level Crisis Management; Vital Installation Security, all were taken
under the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program of the United States
State Department.
I also took up the Allied Officers Intelligence Course at the U.S.
Army Intelligence Centers School in Fort Huachuca, Arizona in 1989. I
went on to undergo the Strategic Level Leadership Program at the
United Kingdom Police College in London.

I am a recipient of two

masters degree and one Level 7 Executive Diploma on Strategic


Leadership under the Chartered Management Institute of the United
Kingdom.

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And contrary to the very misleading reports, specifically the one


mentioned by retired Police Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Boogie
Mendoza, I am not and I was not and I will never be a bata to
anyone.

It was mentioned in that report that I am a bata of Police

Director General Purisima. I was never connected to any official from


both the military, in the police nor any politician or person for that
matter.

In fact, I have never been under Police Director General

Purisima in the previous assignment, except when he was Chief, PNP


and I was then the director of the Special Action Force.
I can look at anyone, and I mean anyone, and tell him face to
face that I worked my way up the ladder not because of my
connections but because of my performance, perseverance, dedication,
credibility and dignity and integrity.
As

we

all

know,

the

main

target

of

our

operations

in

Mamasapano, Maguindanao, was the Malaysian terrorist, Zulkifli bin


Hir. It was already mentioned earlier in the briefing by Police Director
Magalong, the profile of Marwan, but let me just add a few of those
statement of Police Director Magalong.
For the past four years, we have several intelligence reports that
Marwan was hiding in Mindanao under the protection of Abu Sayyaf,
Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom

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Fighters, though as early as 2003, there were already information that


Marwan was already hiding somewhere in Mindanao.

Marwan was

likewise wanted by the Malaysian government for the killing of a


Christian member of their parliament in 2000 which was an attack that
was backed by their fallen terrorist Osama Bin Ladens Al Qaeda.
Marwan also had a strong connection with the deceased Abu Sayyaf
Group leader Khadaffy Janjalani.

In fact, Marwans wife was the

former widow of Janjalani.


The reports are Marwans militant activity in Mindanao, he may
have trained up to 300 terrorists in explosives use and detonating
explosives. One of his cohorts in such activity is the other target of
our operation, Abdul Basit Usman.

Just recently, during the Popes

visit in the Philippines, we have information that the Jemaah


Islamiyah, in coordination with Marwan, had plan to construct a bomb
to be detonated as the papal convoy drove from T.M. Kalaw Street in
Manila on January 18, 2015.

These reports were not confirmed,

neither admitted nor denied by the Philippine National Police, but the
fact, however, remains that there exists/jun

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MR. NAPEAS.

remains that there exists this information.

And just a couple of days ago, there were reports that not less than 30
of Marwans students are roaming around Central Mindanao, ready and
willing and able to create widespread fear and terror, panic to our
countrymen through the use of explosivesimprovised explosives
device.
Our dear senators and fellow countrymen, these undeniable facts
and information clearly show the danger that this Malaysian terrorist,
Zulkifli Marwan Bin Hir poses to the public. That danger no longer
exists with his death on January 25, 2015. Thanks to our new breed of
44 heroes and the other members of the Special Action Force who
executed Oplan Exodus.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our honorable
senators, especially the two chairpersons of the two committees of the
Senate, the Committee on Dangerous Drugs and Public Order and the
Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, and its respective
chairpersons, the Honorable Senator Grace Poe and the Honorable
Senator Teofisto Guingona III, for extending an invitation for me to
attend the day and tomorrows hearing in aid of legislation.
I felt vindicated since the day I received the invitation from these
two honorable committees of the Senate and told myself, Finally, I

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will be given the fair opportunity in an appropriate forum to shed light


as to what really transpired during our operation last January 25, 2015
in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Ano po ang nais kong sabihin o iparating? Simple lamang po. It
is not unknown to everyone that the death of our brave SAF troopers,
the Fallen 44, resulted to overflowing love, sympathy, affection,
fondness and passion in favor, and they really deserve it. They really
do. However, there is this misconception from the public saying, tila
pinabayaan naming mga opisyal ang aming mga tauhan na pasukin
ang lugar ng kalaban; na walang maayos na pagplano at kahandaang
isinagawa bago ang nasabing pagsugod; na walang koordinasyon na
nangyari sa pagitan ng mga kapulisan at ng mga sundalo; na kami ay
naging pabaya at ang kapabayaang ito ang naging dahilan kung bakit
apatnaput-apat (44) sa aming kasamahan sa SAF ay di na nagawa
pang makabalik sa kanilang mga pamilya.
My dear senators and countrymen, these are far from truth.
Nagkaroon po tayo ng mahaba, maayos at masusing pagpapalano,
paghahanda

at

koordinasyon

naganap

at

isinagawa

bago

isinakatuparan ang nasabing pagsugod sa Mamasapano, Maguindanao.


Almost 10 years of my career were spent in the pursuit to serve
justice to Marwans victims.

It all started when I was still the

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provincial director, South Cotabato Police Office in 2005 wherein every


minute, the threats of bombing in the province exists.

Not by the

hour. Its every minute.


So, way back in the third quarter of 2003, there were already
information

that

Marwan

was

hiding

somewhere

in

Mindanao.

However, I started working directly against Marwan as early as 2010.


That time, I was the deputy director, Special Action Force. Later on,
Abdul Basit Usman was also included in our targets.
In December 2010, I supervised the operations against Marwan
in Sulu as the principal officer. But just as our arresting troops arrived
at his location, he escaped.
Sometime in 2012, I also supervised the operations against
Marwan in Butig, Lanao del Sur. Again, he managed to escape just a
few minutes before SAF troops arrived.
Police Chief Superintendent Noel delos Reyes, who was then the
deputy director, Directorate for Intelligence, knew how Marwan
managed to escape in that operation.
Also on April 25, 2014, I supervised the operations against
Marwan and Usman in Barangay Libutan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
This was the one we called as Oplan Wolverine as we heard it in the
news.

Unfortunately, the same was aborted after the 6th Infantry

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Division,

Philippine

Army

withdrew

its

commitment

to

provide

mechanized brigade units to support the operations.


The planning of these operations was done in coordination with
the Joint Special Operations Group in the 6th Infantry Division,
Philippine Army at that time.
I supervised these operations as the SAF senior officer since
Marwan and Usman are considered high-value targets and operation
against them is highly sensitive.
The concept of this Operation Plan Wolverine was approved by
then Police Director General Purisima, then the chief, PNP, and
presented during the executive session at the National Headquarters,
Philippine National Police, in the presence of His Excellency, the
secretary of the Interior and Local Government, the chief, PNP, Police
Chief Superintendent Noel de los Reyes who was then the regional
director of Police Regional Office, ARMM, who then provided the
intelligence packet at that time.

After which, I personally presented

the same briefing to Police Deputy Director General Leonardo A.


Espina, the then deputy chief, PNP, for Operation, in his office.
I duly informed the chief, PNP, through phone stating therein the
reason why the operation was aborted. The chief, PNP, told me that
he will inform higher authorities what happened.

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Another operation in coordination with the Armed Forces of the


Philippines, the 6th ID, was launched on May 30, 2014.

It was also

aborted because of heavy armed groups activity in the target area,


particularly at the vehicle drop-off point.
Barely 10 days later, on June 10, 2014, the 6th ID, the
mechanized brigade of the Philippine Army, all of a sudden conducted
raid operation against Marwan and Usman at the same location without
coordination from the Special Action Force but they failed to neutralize
Marwan and Usman.

However, they recovered some of their

equipment or material evidence in bomb making.


These are just few of the reasons why the succeeding operations,
the coordination with the AFP will be time on target of the arresting
force to avoid the possibility that our operation will be compromised.
Of course, many of you will ask what could be the reason why
the operations will be compromised.

The main reason is that the

information and preparations of our operations are leaked whenever


major operations against high-value targets are conducted as the
subjects, both Marwan and Usman, are being cuddled by the MILF
whose members have lots of contacts with the AFP and PNP. Thus, the
high

level

of

operations

security

and

secrecy

are

of

utmost

importance.

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The director, PNP Intelligence Group, is very much concerned


also of the compromise whenever coordination is done with the Armed
Forces of the Philippines including our own intelligence unit. And this
is based on our past experiences.
Then, around in August 2014, then the regional director of
ARMM, Police Chief Superintendent delos Reyes, gave to me the new
grid coordinates of the possible location of Marwan in Barangay
Pidsandawan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

I also requested him to

provide us the route of the location since we did not know of any route
going to the given grid coordinates.
Also, we started intelligence preparation in the battlefield where
we found out that the location is high-risk because of the presence of
thousands of MILF and BIFF and the difficult terrain.
In the early part of November, one Sunday at around 10 oclock
in the evening, Police Director General Purisima, then the chief, PNP,
called up and instructed me to proceed to the White House in Camp
Crame, Quezon City. Upon arrival thereat, he instructed me to work
with

Police

Senior

Superintendent

Fernando

Mendez,

director,

Intelligence Group, as the new location of Marwan and Basit Usman


was identified and told me that he has an agent in the area of the
location.

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I followed his instruction and I was able to talk to the director,


Intelligence Group, Police Senior Superintendent Mendez, and he told
me that the actionable document was already in the hands of Police
Superintendent Raymond Train, who works as the Special Action Force
intelligence officer in the 84th SAF Seaborne Unit under the Rapid
Deployment Battalion.
This intelligence packet was subjected to long studies and served
as basis in the mission planning of the group composed of myself,
Police Chief Superintendent Noli Talio; the deputy director, Police
Senior Superintendent Amando Cliffton Empiso; the chief, directorial
staff of the Special Action Force, Police Senior Superintendent Richard
dela Rosa; the chief of Intelligence of the Special Action Force, Police
Superintendent Gregory Bognalbal, the chief of operations of the
Special Action Force, Police Superintendent Michael John Mangahis; the
commanding officer of the. . . (nam)

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MR. NAPEAS.

...the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion

who is already posted in Manila but we need his expertise because he


was a longtime commander of the 4th Special Action Force Battalion
based in Maguindanao; Police Superintendent Abraham Abayari, the
commanding officer of the Rapid Deployment Battalion wherein the
Seaborne Unit works under him. Police Superintendent Train was also
included in the planning group including Police Senior Inspector
Recaredo Marasigan, also an intelligence officer of the Special Action
Force.

Later on, the commanding officers of the 84th SAF, the

Seaborne Unit and the 5th Special Action Battalion commander were
also included in the mission planning. After which, an operation plan
was prepared which I, together with Police Chief Superintendent
Talio, the deputy director, SAF, Police Senior Superintendent Dela
Rosa, Police Superintendent Mangahis, and Police Superintendent Train
presented to Police Director General Purisima at the White House. In
response, Police Director General Purisima said, Go, but I have to tell
the President regarding this matter.
This operation which we called Oplan Terminator was launched
on November 29, 2014 but was aborted due to equipment failure while
the arresting force was en route to the target. The reason of the abort
of the mission was verbally reported to Police Director General

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Purisima at his quarters.

Thereafter, we, myself, Police Chief

Superintendent Talio, Police Senior Superintendent

Mendez of the

intelligence group, Police Senior Superintendent Dela Rosa, Police


Superintendent Train, joined Police Director General Purisima to the
Presidential Security Group firing range compound in Malacaang Park
on November 30, 2014 where Police Director General Purisima
rendered mission update to His Excellency.
Another operation, the Oplan Terminator 2 was launched using
tactical boats but the assault force was engaged by lawless group
along the river approximately three kilometers going to the target in
Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao. The mission was
again called off.
Due to the two failed missions, the use of precision-guided
munition bomb was considered. A coordination meeting was done at
the General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp
Aguinaldo, Quezon City on the third week of December 2014 during
the Armed Forces of the Philippines anniversary and the meeting was
attended by General Gregorio Catapang, the chief of staff, Armed
Forces of the Philippines; Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero,
commanding general of the Western Mindanao Command; Major
General Edmundo Pangilinan, commanding general of the 6th Infantry

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Division; Police Director General Purisima, and myself. It was in this


meeting that Lieutenant General Guerrero mentioned that they have
the precision-guided munition and even mentioned that they recently
used it in Basilan. Thus, a coordination meeting was set up at the 3rd
Air Force Division in Zamboanga on December 23, 2014 for specific
coordination of the operation.
Zamboanga

were

Lieutenant

The attendees of the meeting in


General

Guerrero,

Major

General

Emeraldo Magnaye, the commanding general of the 3rd Air Force


Division, Major General Pangilinan, myself, Police Superintendent
Train. In the initial discussion of the meeting, it was revealed by Major
General Magnaye that the Air Force does not have its own precisionguided munition or bomb.

This information was relayed to Police

Senior Superintendent Mendez who was still on his way to the meeting
because his flight was delayed at that time and he has in his
possession

the

Superintendent

intelligence

packet.

This

made

Police

Senior

Mendez not to proceed to the meeting to avoid

providing the intelligence packet as the agreed precision-guided


munition agreed upon to be used in the operation was not available.
Thus, this concept of operation was ruled out.

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Starting December 23, 2014, the mission planning group of the


Special Action Force once again got back to work and mission planning
begins.
On January 9, 2015, we, Police Director General Purisima, myself
and Police Superintendent Mendez went to Malacaang and met His
Excellency at the Bahay Pangarap for mission update and the new
concept of operation. We named this operation as Oplan Exodus.
Under Oplan Exodus, coordination with the Armed Forces of the
Philippines

will

be

time-on-target

in

order

to

avoid

another

compromise.
His Excellency cited about the coordination with the AFP that he
had earlier stated in a press statement. After the update, Police Senior
Superintendent Mendez and myself went out while Police Director
General Purisima stayed behind.

It was then when Police Director

General Purisima when he came out he stated, Huwag mo munang


sabihan iyong dalawa. Saka na pag nandoon na. Ako na ang bahala
kay General Catapang.
Before the end of December 2014, new communication systems
were set up at the Headquarters 43rd Special Action Company in
Maguindanao Police Provincial Office in Shariff Aguak. We set up three
communication systems there to support us in our operations.

That

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same place will serve us as the tactical command post for the
operation. Civilian trucks were rented to be used to avoid compromise
in the entry of troops.
And on January 18, 2015, the chief intelligence, Police Senior
Superintendent Dela Rosa, the commanders of the 3rd Special Action
Battalion and the Rapid Deployment Battalion went to Zamboanga City
and linked up with the 84th Special Action Company, Seaborne, and
the 55th Special Action Company under the 5th Battalion for further
mission planning and finalize the preparations of the operations.
Rehearsals and exercises of movements at night to avoid detection
including live firing were undertaken.

Equipment were continuously

checked and prepared for the operations.

The participating troops

from Zamboanga City, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato, Agusan Sur,
Cotabato City, and General Santos City moved to their respective
staging areas on January 21 to 23, 2015.

Subsequently, the three

police commissioned officers moved to General Santos City from


Zamboanga for their final mission planning in coordination together
with all the unit commanders and key personnel involved in the
operation.
From the above, I believe it is clear that contrary to the
unverified reports in the news, the PNP-SAF did its best in the

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preparations and in the planning of our operations against Marwan and


Usman. Unfortunately and with a heavy heart, I am very sorry to say
that not all of our men who took part in the Oplan Exodus did make it
alive back.
Notwithstanding the above preparations and planning we made,
just like in any other encounter especially in this case where the
subjects of the operations are high-value terrorists, zero casualty
should be the ideal but it is highly uncertain.
The SAF troopers who made their way to Barangay Tukanalipao,
Mamasapano, Maguindanao are highly trained individuals. They know
what they are doing and know what to do in times of adversity and
hostility. Had it been otherwise, the combined force of the MILF and
BIFF and other private armed groups would have not suffered at least
250 casualties in the midst of the firefight that took place almost the
entire day.
The SAF troopers, the noble and gallant warriors believed that
evil triumphs when good men do nothing. It is in the Special Action
Force--it is not just a unit, it is a family that good men gather together
to fight against evil.

These warriors fully understand the risk in our

profession and we are ready to lose some lives but never our honor
and dignity.

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And yes, madams and sirs, you heard it right, hindi po bababa sa
dalawang daan at limampung (250) katao ang naging casualties sa
mga naengkwentrong pinagsanib na puwersa ng MILF, BIFF at iba
pang private armed groups ng ating mga magigiting at matatapang na
bayani mula sa PNP Special Action Force.
To give you an example, Police Superintendent Train alone, the
overall commander of the assault force who took out Marwan was able
to shoot down somewhere between 25 to 30 of the attackers.
According to him, it is also safe to say that the entire assault force, the
84th Company was able to shoot down at least 150 of the enemies. I
also talked personally to PO2 Christopher Lalan, the lone survivor of
the 55th Company and he told me that at least 100 members of the
combined forces of the MILF and BIFF and private armed groups were
taken down by SAF troopers from his company.

The 84th and 55th

SAF Companies which took part in Oplan Exodus also have two and six
snipers respectively under their unit.

For sure, these highly trained

snipers could have shot down on the average of at least 20 each.../hsg

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MR. NAPEAS. ...at least 20 each from the attackers.


Not to mention are those taken down by our men from the 45th,
42nd and 41st Companies who, likewise, engaged in the firefight.
The 43rd Company also has its own Armored Personnel Carrier,
the V150 which was firing almost the entire day. Likewise, present are
the six Armored Personnel Carriers from the Army Mechanized Brigade
that likewise continuously fire against the attackers. This will surely
increase the number of casualties suffered by our enemies contrary to
the 18 casualties as reported by the MILF.
In other words, had the artillery support we requested arrived on
time, the situation would have been entirely different. Though I admit,
it may not have guaranteed zero casualty on our part, but at the very
least, had the artillery support arrived hours earlier, the number of
casualties would have been lesser than the actual figure we suffered.
Sa madaling salita po at salungat at kung ano ang mga nakasaad
o nakasulat sa mga balita at pahayagan, ang mga SAF troopers sa
Barangay Tukanalipao ay nagtungo sa lugar na iyon ng may humigit pa
sa sapat na paghahanda, tamang pagpaplano at higit sa lahat, hindi
masusukat na tapang, pagmamahal at pagmamalasakit para sa ating
mahal na Inang Bayan at mga kababayan na maging biktima pa nina

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Marwan at ni Usman, mga katangiang tanging sa isang SAF trooper


lamang makikita.
Muli po, ako si Police Director Getulio Pascual Napeas, the
former chief of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, and I
stand firm with the words I uttered since the minute the news of this
unfortunate event broke outMission Accomplished. This is only the
word that the SAF troopers need to hear, only that it happened with a
high pricethe lives of our 44 brave young men, our heroes, our true
tagaligtas, the Special Action Force Troopers of the Philippine National
Police.
Maraming salamat po at magandang umaga.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Salamat

po,

Chief

Superintendent Napeas sa iyong presentasyon at masusing pagkalap


ng mga impormasyon, at mas mabuti na iyong mas nakikilala ka ng
publiko, ang iyong pinagdaanan, ang iyong pinag-aralan, ang iyong
mga karanasan.
Ngayon naman po, pupunta naman po tayo sa dako ng Armed
Forces of the Philippines at ang presentasyon ay pangungunahan ni
Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
MR. GAZMIN.

The Honorable Senate President, Senator

Franklin Drilon; the Honorable Chairpersons and members of the

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Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs; Committee on


Peace, Unification and Reconciliation; and Committee on Finance;
distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
The operations of the PNP-SAF in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on
January 25, 2015, very sadly caused the death of 44 members of the
PNP-SAF. We most respectfully express again our deepest condolences
to the families our heroes have left behind.
That bloody armed confrontation has generated various reactions
from the different sectors of society and the general public that led to
speculations as to who should be held responsible and accountable for
the occurrence of that unfortunate incident and its dire consequences.
In order to clarify the truth about that armed encounter,
particularly on the specific details on the involvement and participation
of the units and elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the
said operations, your Department of National Defense and Armed
Forces come before this august institution and thank our honorable
senators for this invitation to answer questions surrounding the
occurrence of that bloody event. By appearing before this esteemed
body, the DND and the AFP manifest our sincerest desire to present
the truth and in so doing, move forward in our quest for peace. We

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join the nation in its aspiration for truth so that we may all learn from
the bitter and painful lesson.
In order to clarify the truth about the armed encounter
particularly on the specific details on the involvement and participation
of the AFP in said operation, we thank our honorable senators for this
privilege to present before this august assembly a briefing on the
pertinent facts and circumstances.
The Honorable Chairs, may we now request for your kind
indulgence for us to be able to present the AFP's report to be delivered
by Brigadier General de Leon, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Go ahead, General de Leon.
MR. DE LEON. Thank you, ma'am.
To our Senate President, to the Honorable Members of the
Senate Committees on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs; and Peace,
Unification and Reconciliation; and Finance chaired by the Honorable
Grace Poe and the Honorable Teofisto Guingona III, ladies and
gentlemen, good morning.
I am Brigadier General de Leon, the Deputy Chief of Staff for
Operations, J3. And on behalf of the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the

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Philippines, General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr., I will be presenting a


brief on the Mamasapano incident.
The scope of my presentation is as shown: the background will
cover a brief description of the Western Mindanao Command area of
responsibility; the joint task forces under its operational control; a
snapshot of the current activities; the area of incident and the forces
operating thereat. It will also show the mechanisms available for
coordination

and

be

followed

by

the

significant

events

and

corresponding actions taken by the Armed Forces.


The Western Mindanao Command area of responsibility consists
of the whole of Region IX, parts of Region X, parts of Region XII, and
the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is
composed of 12 provinces of 240 municipalities and 14 cities, with a
total land area of 51,000 square kilometers, and it has a population of
around 10.4 million people as of the Calendar Year 2010 census.
The Western Mindanao Command has three joint task forces,
namely, Joint Task Force Zambasulta; Joint Task Force Zampelan; and
Joint Task Force Central.
Joint Task Force Zambasulta covers the islands of Basilan, Sulu,
Tawi-Tawi, and the City of Zamboanga. Currently, operations are

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ongoing to address the Abu Sayaff group and other lawless elements,
target hardening efforts to deter bombings and other violent actions.
Joint Task Force Zampelan for the 1st Infantry Division covers
Zamboanga Peninsula, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte and parts
of Lanao del Sur. It is currently focusing on internal security operations
against lawless elements and the New People's Army in its area of
operation.
Joint Task Force Central or the 6th Infantry Division covers
Maguindanao, parts of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, parts of Lanao
del Sur and the cities of Tacurong and Cotabato including Mamasapano
municipality and other areas of MILF communities. Lately, it has
conducted operations to secure North Cotabato, Maguindanao and
parts of Sultan Kudarat against the BIFF and the security of the power
transmission lines.
The area of incident. Before I proceed with my briefing, let me
first orient this august body about the prominent landmarks in the
general area which covers the area of incident.
On the far north is Cotabato City. Beside it, adjacent to the
headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division is the Cotabato City Airport,
and extending down south from Cotabato City is the Cotabato-Shariff
Aguak Road towards the Municipality of Isulan parallel to the Pan-

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Philippine

Highway

that

passes

along

Tacurong

City

at

the

southernmost portion.
The area of incident is generally a flat area in Mamasapano,
Maguindanao. It is 43 kilometers.../mhu

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MR. DE LEON. It is 43 kilometers aerial distance, southeast of


headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat,
Maguindanao; 36 kilometers aerial distance northwest of headquarters
of the 601st brigade at Tacurong City; 11 kilometers aerial distance
northeast of the 1st Mechanized Brigade headquarters, and 12
kilometers aerial distance east of the headquarters of the 45th Infantry
Battalion.
The municipality of Mamasapano is a former barangay of Aguak
and by virtue of Republic Act 6646 and the Muslim Mindanao
Autonomy Act No. 54 dated 27 April 1997 issued on 02 December
1998, it is created as the 11th municipality in second district of
Maguindanao.

It is categorized as a fifth class municipality and per

2010 census, it has a population of around 22,000 people in 4,000


households.

The mayor is Datu Benzar Ampatuan.

It is subdivided

into 15 barangays which include the barangays of Tukanalipao and


Pidsandawan, the site of the 25th January incidence.
45th Infantry Battalion is the infantry battalion that covers the
Mamasapano area. It has three maneuver companies, with its bravo
company as the most proximate to the incident area at more or less
five kilometers away. And shown are the disposition of proximate AFP
forces to the area of incident.

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Shown is the disposition of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom


Fighters forces or BIFF in the area with 145 fighters and an equal
number of firearms. There are also 70 reported private armed groups
in the area with 80 firearms.

Likewise, 15 MNLF fighters with 15

firearms camp in the area as shown. The 105th Base Command of the
MILF with 162 fighters and an equal number of firearms under Ustad
Zacaria Guma is also located at the vicinity of the Mamasapano area
and so with the 106th Base Command of the MILF with 132 fighters and
112 firearms. In the same area is based the 118th Base Command of
the MILF with 112 fighters and an equal number of firearms.
In totality, the vicinity of Mamasapano is a lair to 631 fighters
with 626 firearms from four different groups which coexist in that
complex.
On coordinating mechanisms.
The

first

coordinating

mechanism

is

governed

by

the

implementing operational guidelines of the GRP-MILF Agreement on


the Cessation of Hostilities signed on 14 November 1997.
Actions Exempted from Cessation of Hostilities.

Article 2,

Police and military

actions and administrative/logistics activities shall continue to be


undertaken by the GRP throughout Mindanao and the entire country.
In the pursuit thereof, confrontational situations between the GRP and

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the MILF forces shall be avoided by prior coordination with the latter.
These actions include, but are limited to the following: peacekeeping
and police actions, and defensive or protective actions of the GRP and
MILF to ensure the security of its forces, facilities, installations,
equipment and lines of communication, and the safety and tranquility
of civil government and population.
The next document is the implementing guidelines of the Joint
Communique of 16 May 2002 and part of the document are the
mechanics of implementation.

The Ad Hoc Joint Action Group or

AHJAG shall coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and
the Philippine National Police and the MILF and BIAF to effect the
apprehension and arrest of suspected criminal elements; to avoid the
necessary armed confrontations, the displacement of communities and
damage to properties, the tactical operations center of tactical
command posts of the government operating forces and with MILF
forces in the area shall work and coordinate closely with the Ad Hoc
Joint Action Group and vice versa; and except for operations against
high priority targets, a list of which shall be provided by the GPH Peace
Panel to the MILF panel, the AHJAG shall inform the GRP and the MILF
CCCH at least 24 hours prior to the conduct of AFP/PNP operations in

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order to allow sufficient time for the evacuation of civilians and to


avoid armed confrontation between the GPH and MILF forces.
The third document is the Joint Implementing Rules and
Regulations to Executive Order 546, Series of 2006, directing the PNP
to undertake active support to the AFP in internal security operations
for the suppression on insurgency and other threats to national
security.
General principles. PNP units may either operate as a part of a
joint AFP-PNP force or as a single force in the conduct of combat
operations subject to the following:

when operating jointly with the

Armed Forces of the Philippines, tasked PNP units shall be attached or


placed under the operational control of the AFP unit with operational
responsibility of the area of operation; When operating independently
as a single force, PNP units shall take orders from its parent unit, but
must coordinate with the nearest tactical unit of the Armed Force of
the Philippines to ensure a coordinated and focused operations in the
particular area. The AFP unit that has operational responsibility over
the area of operations shall be furnished with the PNP units operational
plan and after operations report.
We will be hearing the word coordination in parts of the
presentation. Let me present a doctrinal definition of coordination.

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Coordination is the exchange of information to inform and


integrate, synchronize and de-conflict operations. Coordination is not
necessarily a process of gaining approval, but is most often used for
mutual exchange of information.

(Field Manual 101-5-1, Operational

Terms and Graphics).


Another definition of coordination, The act of informing a
department or person of a course of action so that he can either fit his
own actions into the proposed course of action or take steps to modify
the proposed course of action to make it fit into his own; the function
of integrating efforts of search and rescue facilities for a concerted and
harmonized execution of SAR missions in an effective and economical
manner; and an act of organizing, making different people and
agencies work together for a goal or effect to fulfill desired goals in an
organization. (AFP Glossary of Military Terms).
Chronology of Events.
In the early morning of January 25, 2015, the AFP started
receiving

information

regarding

the

PNP-SAF

law

enforcement

operation or LEO at Mamasapano, Maguindanao.


At around 5:28 a.m., the G3 or the operations officer of the 6th
Infantry Division, Lieutenant Colonel Hambala received a call from
Senior Superintendent Dela Rosa about the operation of the PNP-SAF.

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G3, 6ID in turn, contacted the operations officer of the 601st


Brigade to inquire whether the SAF has made coordination about the
law enforcement operation at Mamasapano of which the latter
answered in the negative.
At around 5:37 a.m., the Chairman of the GPH-AHJAG, Brigadier
General Orense, received a call from Police Director Napeas regarding
the conduct of law enforcement operations of the PNP-SAF, that they
will conduct operations in Barangay Pidsandawan targeting Marwan.
Immediately, Chairman, GPH-AHJAG called the police director of
Maguindanao Provincial Police Office to confirm if he knew the PNP-SAF
law enforcement operation and the latter replied in the negative.
Chairman, GPH-AHJAG thereafter tried to contact his counterpart
in the MILF through cellphone but could not reach the latter.
Chairman, GPH-AHJAG then called Commander, 601st Brigade asking if
he knew the PNP-SAF operations. Colonel Feliciano replied that he has
no knowledge about these current operations of the PNP-SAF.
Chairman, GPH-AHJAG then told Colonel Feliciano to provide assistance
to the PNP-SAF.
At around 5:42 a.m./cbg

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MR. DE LEON. At around 5:42 a.m., five minutes after his


first call, Police Director Napeas called again the Chairman, GPHAHJAG, that they are withdrawing and they asked if they could be
provided with assistance.
At around 5:48 a.m., the Commander of the 45th Infantry
Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Bautista, was informed by his intelligence
officer about an ongoing firefight at Mamasapano. The commanding
officer of the 45th Infantry Battalion immediately directed his staff and
unit commanders to validate the information and alerted his forces.
At around 6:00 a.m., the commander of the 6th Infantry Division,
Major General Pangilinan read in his cell phone the SMS sent by Police
Director

Napeas

enforcement

at

5:06

operation

at

a.m.

regarding

Barangay

the

conduct

Tukanalipao,

of

law

Mamasapano,

Maguindanao. The text says, I quote: Ed, good am. For your info, on
January 25, 2015, at about 0230, PNP-SAF supported by Maguindanao
Police

Provincial

Office,

Police

Regional

Office-ARMM

shall

be

conducting LEO and serve warrant of arrest or WA against high value


targets

in

Mamasapano,

Maguindanao.

Troops

are

underway.

Coordination was also done with CO 1Mech and 45th IB.


Commander 6th Infantry Division subsequently relayed this
information to Commander Western Mindanao Command at 6:11 a.m.

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and asked Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade and Commander 45thIB


at around 6:11 a.m. and 6:12 a.m. respectively if the PNP-SAF
operation is coordinated with them.
At around 6:04 a.m., Commander WESTMINCOM received a call
from Police Deputy Director General Espina, Officer in Charge of the
Philippine National Police, regarding the SAF encounter in Maguindanao
needing assistance and support.
At around 6:05 and 6:06 a.m., Commander WESTMINCOM
received two text messages from Police Director General Purisima
requesting if he can call.
At

around

6:07

a.m.,

Commander

WESTMINCOM

called

Commander 6th Infantry Division and inquired if he knew anything


about the ongoing law enforcement operation of the PNP-SAF.
Commander 6th ID replied that he was only informed thru SMS by
Police Director Napeas sent at about 5:06 a.m. but only read at about
6:00 a.m.
Commander WESTMINCOM then asked Commander 6th ID to
forward the SMS from Police Director Napeas and gave him guidance
to provide support to the SAF.
At around 6:09 a.m., Commander WESTMINCOM called Police
Director General Purisima in response to his SMS and asked about his

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concern. Police Director General Purisima mentioned about the LEO of


the SAF and that he is requesting support from the AFP units in the
area.
At around 6:10 a.m., Police Director Napeas called Commander
WESTMINCOM who mentioned about the LEO and that his troopers
were already engaged and he was asking for support from the AFP
units in Mamasapano.
Commander WESTMINCOM informed him that Commander 6th ID
was already aware and was already advised to provide assistance.
At around 6:12 a.m., Commander 6ID called Colonel del Rosario,
the Commander of the 1st Mechanized Brigade, to check if the PNP-SAF
coordinated with him on their operations in Mamasapano.
At around 6:13 a.m., Commander 6ID called Commander 45th IB
if PNP-SAF coordinated with him regarding the conduct of LEO in
Mamasapano. Commander 45th IB replied, no, coordination was made
on him even when a certain Inspector Santos dropped by at
headquarters Bravo Company in Barangay Nabundas. Commander 45th
IB further Commander 6ID that local officials of Mamasapano reported
that they heard gunfire in the area. Commander 6ID instructed
Commander 45th IB to monitor and take appropriate action.

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Commander 45th IB organized troops and later at around 6:30


a.m., deployed one fire team at Meta Bridge, one CAA squad at Crown
Ball of Poblacion Shariff Aguak and one squad officer led at Sitio
Bagong, Barangay Timbangan in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
At

around

6:18

a.m.,

Police

Director

Napeas

forwarded

Commander 6ID with the following SMS, For Chief-PNP, from Director
SAF- Na-engage SAF troops doon malapit ilog two kms east of
Barangay Tukanalipao, GC 6798365714, bandang gitna going to
target, sir.
Commander 6ID replied, Copy.
At around 6:19 a.m., Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade
forwarded a copy of an SMS to Commander 6th ID, quote: Sir, I
checked my cell with this text from General Talio at about 5:20 a.m.,
Gener, good am, sorry to disturb you at this early morning. Andito
kami General Napeas sa area. For your info on January 25, 2015 at
about 0230 PNP-SAF supported by Maguindanao PPO, PRO-ARMM shall
be conducting law enforcement operation and serve warrant of arrest
against high-value targets in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Troops are
underway. Coordination is being made with Division Commander 6ID.
At around 6:30 a.m., Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade
informed Commander 6th ID via SMS, quote: Sir, may sporadic fires at

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vicinity Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano about seven to eight kilometers


from Poblacion Aguak, about 5:00 a.m. kanina as reported by civilians.
We checked with 45th IB, its not their operations. We checked with
PNP Aguak, they said its PNP-SAF NCR operations. Commander 6ID
instructed Commander 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Paki-check
with Maguindanao PPO kung ano effort nila.
At around 6:33 a.m., Commander 6ID instructed Commander 1st
Mechanized

Brigade

to

be

prepared

to

provide

reinforcement.

Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade replied, Noted, sir. We have


alerted units here at Brigade Headquarters.
At

around

6:39

a.m.,

Commander

601

Brigade

directed

Commander 45th IB to mobilize route security from Shariff Aguak to


the vicinity of Barangay Tuka, Mamasapano. Commander 45th IB
organized forces and later deployed one squad as route security at
RMG Barangay Matugmay and one section at Barangay Iganampon.
At around 6:44 a.m., Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade
received a phone call from Superintendent Mangahis of PNP-SAF
informing that their troops were engaged in Mamasapano. Commander
1st Mechanized Brigade asked on, Who authorized them to conduct
operation in that area and if ever, did they seek clearance from
Headquarters 6ID? Superintendent Mangahis was silent and did not

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answer the query. Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade instructed


Superintendent Mangahis to report at the Old Capitol Compound in
Shariff Aguak to give a briefing on the situation in the area of their
operation and the location of the PNP-SAF troops.
At around 6:48 a.m., Chairman, GPH-AHJAG again called Atty.
Abdul Dataya of the MILF-AHJAG but the phone just kept on ringing.
At around 6:50 a.m., Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade texted
Commander 6th ID, Sir, tumawag just now PNP-SAF Superintendent
Mangahis operation officer nila. May mga wounded daw sa supporting
effort, two units in Barangay Tuka, hindi maka-extricate. They need
help sa extraction. I told him to report to Brigade Headquarters so we
can device extraction plan ASAP, sir. Commander 6th ID replied, Keep
me posted.
At

around

7:27

a.m.,

Chief

Superintendent

Talio

and

Superintendent Mangahis arrived at Headquarters 1st Mechanized


Brigade and gave a briefing on the situation and location of their
engaged troops. The Acting Operations Officer of the 45th Infantry
Battalion joined the conference five minutes later.
At around 7:27 a.m., Commander 6th ID called Chairman, GPHAHJAG if he talked already with his counterpart. The latter informed

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that he called the phone of Atty. Datayab but still cannot make
connection.
At around 7:28 a.m/Rommel.

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MR. DE LEON.

...At around 7:28 a.m., Commander, 1st

Mechanized Brigade sent an SMS to Commander, 6ID Sir, Supt.


Mangahas updated me sa Oplan nila. Two groups nila were still inside
Brgy. Tuka engaged in sporadic fires with lawless as of now. My plan
is: 1) move Mechanized Infantry (with 8 armored vehicles) to control
Highway ng Mamasapano, 2) insert Mechanized Infantry and DRC to
augment PNP at SAF extraction point and to provide supporting fires sa
pinned down SAF, 3) utilize 105 Artillery (if approved by Comdr, 6ID)
to disrupt lawless firing at SAF (pinned down as of now) abt 500m fr
SAF position. Request guidance Sir.
Commander 6ID informed Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade:
Ok, good ang number 1 at number 2 plan. But number 3 plan about
the artillery is hold until we have complete details of the firefight.
Subsequently, Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade tasked/organized
his troops.
At around 7:30 a.m., Major SOL of the GPH-CCCH called Mr.
Hovland of the International Monitoring Team or IMT to join in forming
the Joint Ceasefire Crisis Team. Thereafter, the organization of the
JCCT started.
At around 7:31 a.m., Chairman, GPH-AHJAG received a call from
Chairman, MILF-AHJAG. The former asked if the latter could take

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action on the situation. Chairman MILF-AHJAG said he will call


Darapanan.
At around 8:20 a.m., Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade
deployed Army forces composed of one light Armor Platoon of four
armored vehicles; one Mechanized Section of two armored vehicles;
one Section of 62nd Division Reconnaissance Company; and one
Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team to secure Main Supply Route from
Shariff Aguak to Brgy. Tukanalipao, Mamasapano and to provide
suppressive fires if warranted.
Likewise, another section of 62nd DRC was tasked to establish
and secure extrication point 300 meters above the position of
combined Army forces, which should be dedicated to reinforce and
recover the elements of the 55th SAC heavily engaged by the enemy at
Brgy. Tukanalipao. Superintendent Mangahis rode one of the armored
vehicles of the 23rd Mechanized Company to guide the Army reinforcing
troops.
At around 9:00 a.m., Joint Ceasefire Crisis Team composed of
representatives

from

GPH-CCCH,

MILF-CCCH,

Joint

Ceasefire

Monitoring Post of Kitango and the International Monitoring Team


assembled at the IMT Headquarters in Cotabato City. They then
started to move to Brgy. Kuloy, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, to meet

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with Ustadz Zacaria Guma, the Base Commander of the 105th Base
Command, BIAF-MILF abd Ustadz Wahid Tundok, Base Commander of
118th Base Command, BIAF-MILF.
At around 9:20 a.m., troops of the 23rd Mechanized Company,
14th Mechanized Company and the 62nd DRC tried to link up with the
elements of the 55th SAC but failed because there is no contact and
communication to them and it was an open field.
At around 9:30 a.m., Commander of the 6ID called Chairman,
GPH-CCCH and Chairman, GPH-AHJAG and invited them to join the
meeting with his battle staff.
At around 10:40 a.m., combined troops of the 23rd Mechanized
Company, 62nd DRC and the PNP-SAF while trying to link up with the
55th SAC were fired-upon. The troops held their ground.
At around 10:52 a.m., two UH1H helis arrived at TOG12 Awang,
Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao from the Headquarters of the 1st
Infantry Division, Philippine Army, which was directed by Commander,
Western Mindanao Command for possible casualty evacuation.
At around 10:54 a.m., Commander, 6ID forwarded a message to
Police Director Napeas the message from Chairman, GPH-CCCH: Sir,
lumagpas na sa Talayan sila Butch Malang with our ceasefire

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committee. Within 30-45 minutes dun na sila sa area, Sir. We advised


them to ceasefire.
At around 11:00 a.m., reconfiguration of forces was effected to
augment the Army reinforcing troops to PNP-SAF. Commander, 601
Brigade directed the 33IB to release Operational Control of the 62nd
DRC and move them from present location to Brgy. Badak, General SK
Pendatun to the 1st Mechanized Brigade in Shariff Aguak.
At around 11:08 a.m., Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade sent
an SMS to Commander, 6ID: Sir, latest location ng pinned down SAF
groups with wounded is at GC 68306550 (open area) about 1.2 km na
lang from the Hiway Mamasapano. Nearest SAF team reached 700m
already (from Hiway). 62nd DRC with SAF buddy team at 300m (from
Hiway) sporadic fires can still be heard from northwest portion of SAF
position (200m fr their loc). Progress report to follow. Commander,
6ID asked: So wala p na evac? Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade
replied: Negative pa evac as of now. Yun SAF at 700 meters is still
assessing the open area before they proceed sa pinned down SAF
teams.
At

around

11:31

a.m.,

Commander,

45IB

called

Police

Superintendent Mangaldan regarding their requirements for tactical

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support and the latter replied that they cannot yet determine their
requirements from the AFP.
At around 11:45 a.m., the JCCT conducted an emergency
dialogue with Ustadz Guma, 105th Base Command Commander, Wahid
Tundok,

118th

Base

Command

Commander,

Municipal

Mayor

Ampatuan, Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Post Kitango members and other


officials of Mamasapano in order to facilitate the ceasefire.
At around 12:15 p.m., combined Army and PNP troops were fired
upon by the MILF and BIFF forces located at their blocking position
west of the main road in Tukanalipao.
At around 12:42 p.m.,

Commander, 1st Mech Brigade sent an

SMS to Commander, 6ID: Sir, tumawag si Maj Sol of GPH-CCCH that


Toks Upam of the MILF-CCCH and IMT, GPH-CCCH members of three
vehicles will proceed to ACP ng SAF at Mamasapano to coordinate
ceasefire and get the wounded SAF in the area. I coordinated
everything about their arrival sa ground commander ng SAF para
details ng talks and ceasefire nila with 105th Base Command, MILF who
are surrounding the wounded SAF. Commander, 6ID replied: Ok.
Good.
At around 12:45 p.m., Chairman, GPH-CCCH called Police
Director Napeas and asked if they had already withdrawn from the

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area. He reported that they cannot withdraw yet as the SAF troops are
still subjected to heavy fires.
At around 1:10 p.m., the JCCT arrived at TCP of 4th SAF Battalion
at at Brgy. Tuka, Mamasapano and talked to Police Superintendent
Mangaldan. However, the TCP was harassed resulting to the disabling
of front wheel tires of 3 Simba armored vehicles. During that time,
Chairman,

GPH-CCH

and

Chairman,

GPH-AHJAG

joined

the

Commander, 6ID and his battle staff for a meeting. They then
discussed on how to facilitate the resolution of the crisis.
At around 1:45 p.m., Commander, 6ID instructed Commander,
45Ib to proceed to the encounter area to provide command and control
to

all

Army

units

deployed

in

the

incident

area.

Thereafter,

Commander, 45th IB established tactical command post at Brgy.


Tukalanipao.
At around 2:18 p.m., the negotiation for a ceasefire started.
Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade sent an SMS to Commander, 6ID:
Sir, ceasefire na muna sa area. Wala na sporadic fires. Pina-relocate
ko DRC and SAF team sa may Hiway near the wheeled armored
vehicles para mag-stop iyong fired upon sa DRC. (Co-located na iyong
DRC with wheeled armored vehicles sa Hiway now para wala muna
putukan. CCCH and IMT in the area now.

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As effort for ceasefire progresses, elements from DRC and SAF


teams were advised by Commander, 1st Mechanized Brigade to
relocate to the nearby highway to stop being fired-upon. Meanwhile,
Commander, 601th Brigade established a TCP.../mjp

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MR. DE LEON.

601st Brigade established a TCP at the

Maguindanao Provincial Capitol and conducted a briefing on the


concept of the rescue operation.
At around 4:00 p.m., total ceasefire took effect.

At that time,

volunteers and vehicles have been mobilized for the retrieval of


casualties. Likewise, Commander, 45th IB organized and briefed his
troops for the retrieval operation.
At around 5:15 p.m., PNP-SAF reported

that their main effort

was still subjected to intense volume of fire. It was the first time that
the 6th Infantry Division and coordinating ceasefire mechanisms
learned that there is another engaged SAF group which was the 84th
SAC.

Chairman GPH-CCCH informed MILF-CCCH about the issue.

MILF-CCCH responded that MILF forces have already pulled out and
that the 84th SAC is in the BIFF-controlled area.
At around 5:30 p.m., combined troops started to move for the
rescue/extrication operations; combined elements of Bravo Company
45th IB, 62nd DRC, 61st DRC and one section of the 46th SAC crossed
the line of departure to augment the 45th SAC.

Likewise, joint

elements of the 61st DRC and a platoon of PNP-SAF proceeded to link


up and rescue the 84th SAC (Seaborne) in the encountered site at
Barangay Tuka.

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At around 5:35 p.m., Police Director Napeas requested for


artillery fires. Sixth ID delivered three artillery rounds of white
phosphorous as marking and reference.

High Explosive (HE) rounds

were not delivered due to danger close as advised by his fire support
officer.

While delivering fires, the joint Army and PNP elements are

moving into position to rescue the 84th SAC, respectively.


The rescue and extrication of engaged SAF troops started at
around 7:30 p.m.

The joint CCCH, IMT, together with the LGU

of

Mamasapano extricated five cadavers from the 55th SAC as combined


AFP and PNP forces linked up and rescued 84th SAC, they were able to
rescue 17 unharmed members of the 84th SAC, retrieved eight killed in
action and safely extricated 11 wounded in action with their equipment
intact.
The following day, the recovery and extrication of engaged SAF
troops continued at around 9:50 in the morning. The joint CCCH, IMT
and LGU-Mamasapano recovered 14 KIA;
recovered at around 12:28 p.m.;

another 15 KIA were

and one KIA was recovered at

around 12:46 p.m., all belonging to the 55th SAC. One survivor from
the 55th SAC was rescued by Bravo Company of 45th IB at around 2:10
p.m. A total of 43 recovered KIAs were brought to Headquarters 6th
ID, while the WIAs were taken to nearby hospitals.

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At around 2:36 p.m. in the afternoon, the operation was


concluded. All PNP-SAF pulled out from the general area of incident.
And at around 3:45 p.m., all army troops pulled out from the
general area of incident.
At 5:00 p.m., one SAF-WIA expired at the Integrated Hospital
Office, bringing the total KIA to 44 with 11 WIAs.
That ends the brief, Your Honors.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Thank you for the very

detailed, hourly almost, presentation of the events from the 25th until
the 26th, Brigadier General De Leon.
We will now allow the individual interpellations of our members
to our resource persons.

Our request is you keep your questions

limited to five minutes for each round.

That does not include the

answers, of course, of our resource persons. So the five-minute rule


per senator will apply so that we can get as many questions out as
possible. We will begin in order of arrival: Senator Trillanes and then
Senator Escudero, Senator Sotto, Senator Honasan, Senator Guingona,
Senator Ejercito, Senator Binay, Senator Marcos, Senator Recto,
Senator Aquino, Senator Pimentel, Senator Cayetano, Senator Villar,
Senator Pia Cayetano, Senator Loren, Senator Angara.

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SEN. A. CAYETANO.

Madam Chair, just an inquiry.

Madam Chair, of course, were very thankful that all the highlevel officials in the PNP, military and peace panel are here.

May I

know if we invited any high-level official that can speak for the MILF
and if they have, in fact, sent any of their officials?
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

I was informed that the

MILF representative, although we sent our invitation to Mr. Iqbal, they


sent Rasid Ladiasan, Chair, MILF Coordinating Committee on the
Cessation of Hostilities, and Butch Malang, head of secretariat, MILF.
SEN. A. CAYETANO.

And, Madam Chair, can they speak in

behalf of the MILF?


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

I would assume that they

would as representatives here.


SEN. A. CAYETANO.

May we ask them, Madam Chair?

THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Did you prepare any

particular statement, Mr. Ladiasan?


MR. LADIASAN.

Good morning po to all; good morning po,

Madam Chair.
Originally po, I was sent by the leadership to appear as a part of
the Joint CCCH working for the ceasefire. But yesterday po, I was told
by the leadership that in case Ill be asked of some questions or the

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MILF be asked of some questions, then Ill have to answer to the best
of my competence.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
SEN. A. CAYETANO.

Lastly, Madam Chair, because both the

PNP and AFP have submitted their report, the MILF has announced in
the media that they also have a report.

And were trying to do our

best to show the people that there will be no whitewash here, we


would have rather started with the survivors because sila mismo ang
nandoon. Having said that, may I know if the MILF have brought also,
just like the AFP and PNP, the copy of their narration of facts with them
today so that we can compare the three, Madam Chair, before we ask
the questions.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Do you have any prepared
reports, Mr. Ladiasan, or, Mr. Malang?
MR. LADIASAN.

Yes, Madam Chairman po. Iyong report po

namin is a report of the Joint CCCH. As to the report of the MILF on


the tragic incident in Mamasapano, as far as I know, I was told that
the

special

investigation

committee

or

commission

has

been

undertaking the investigation on the matter and it has not completed


yet the full investigation and the report for that matter.

And they

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emphasized that we are both into coming out with the truth and to
account for whatever is needed.
Thank you po.
SEN. A. CAYETANO.

On that note, Madam Chair, may I

request that, through the representatives, and I thank you for being
here, sir, that a copy be given right away to the Senate.

I am

uncomfortable, to tell you the truth, that the PNP and AFP have already
submitted their report and the MI have not because the MI have been
flip-flopping in the reports in the media from having said that Marwan
was in their territory, then the BIFF, then they were not fighting with
the BIFF and then theyre fighting with the BIFF. And the reports now
of the two AFP and PNP clearly put at issue these facts.
So may I respectfully ask that you communicate to your higherups, to the leadership of the MILF so that the sooner they submit their
factual report, the morenot only credibility, but the more we can
compare and the idea of a cover-up or trying to navigate the reports
here in order to show that the peace process should continue. Bottom
line, sir, were all after the truth, as you said. And if we dont have all
the three reports here, magkakaroon talaga ng notion na nire-repair
iyong report.

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So having said that, Madam Chair, I submit and I hope that


tomorrow, if we do have a hearing tomorrow, even if a partial report
by the MILF may be brought forth here.

If peace is really their

objective and they want to save their peace agreement, they should
have full cooperation here.

Sila iyong nasa on the ground so they

should have done this much faster than the PNP and AFP that have to
go there and check. But again, thank you for the representatives.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Your

concerns

and

instructions are duly noted, Senator Cayetano.


I would like to ask really quickly. Mr. Ladiasan, who authorized
you to be here?

You said you were just informed yesterday.

Who

from the MILF? Just to be surebrhg

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Just to be sure that you

are actually the authorized representative.


MR. LADIASAN.

Madam Chairman, the MILF-CCCH was

authorized, mandated by the peace panel to appear for this hearing


when they were in Kuala Lumpur for the talks recently and the two
parties agreed that the CCCH has to appear for the hearing. But iyon
pong representing the MILF, I was told my Chairman Iqbal, the
chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, that should I have to answer some
questions raised to the MILF
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

May I ask why he is not

personally here when we sent him the invitation? Did he give a letter
stating the reasons why he is sending you as his representative?
MR. LADIASAN. I have no idea po.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Have you taken your oath,
sir?
MR. LADIASAN. Opo, maam.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Okay.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Madam Chair, can we ask Mr. Iqbal
to honor this Committee with his appearance before the Senate? If the
Secretary of Interior and Local Government, the AFP high ranking

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officials, both Secretary Gazmin are here, can we have the honor of
having Mr. Iqbal present?
SEN. A. CAYETANO.

Madam Chair, may I support the

recommendation of the Senate President. And may I just put into the
record, the House of Representatives in the hearing for the BBL wrote
the leadership of MILF and asked them to be present in the hearing
becauseof course, the House believed that this is a two-way
negotiation, this is a two-way peace process. But we were all shocked
by the answer of the MILF. I have here a letter dated December 29,
2014, signed by Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim and, Madam Chair, let
me read just this one paragraph in his letter, As such, the MILF
negotiated its peace agreement with the understanding that it was
negotiating with the totality of the Philippine government or whole of
government especially since after other reasons, the commander-inchief powers of the President allows him to bind the whole government
including its different branches.
So let me point out that there is a misunderstanding here. The
President cannot bind the Supreme Court nor the Congress of the
Philippines.
Secondly, Madam Chair, in his letter in the back it just said that
he is preoccupied, together with the other MILF leaders in forming

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political party and they will be in Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat,


where a hundred thousand people will be.
So, Madam Chair, I think if we want to get to the bottom of this
and for everyonewe are all for peace here. But for everyone who is
saying they want to save the peace process, the leadership of the MILF
should understand, Madam Chair, that Congress is not bound by the
commander-in-chief powers of the President as far as a legislative
hearing is concerned and as far as the legislation of the BBL.
But, of course, you are the messenger here, sir, and we respect
you being here and thank you. But, Madam Chair, may I support the
call of the Senate President and ask for a show of sincerity from the
MILF.

They will be treated with much respect here.

They will be

welcome here and we will have a good discussion if the leadership is


here.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Thank

you,

Senator

Cayetano.
I would also like to put on record that a letter was sent to our
office on January 29 from the chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, Mr.
Iqbal, and he mentioned that for the said invitation he will have to get

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permission from the central committee of the MILF which ultimately


has the jurisdiction and mandate over such invitation.
So this is the 29th and we are nowmany days passed this and
we still have no official reason from him thats why we were asking
since he sent just the representative if he had anything. But since, for
the record, he did not send anymore. So that means he hasnt had the
permission granted to him yet by the central committee of the MILF, I
would assume, because this is the last correspondence he sent.
So in the meantime, we would like to ask perhaps since we
already opened the floor for the MILF one side of the peace panel
negotiators perhaps we can have a statement from Secretary Deles or
from Ms. Coronel-Ferrer regarding what information you might have
known during the time of the incident in Mamasapano.

Apparently

there has been some information that reached you about the fighting
and that you may have also gotten in touch with several key leaders
on the ground. If you have any presentation, we would welcome that
or any statements.
Atty. Ferrer.
MS. CORONEL-FERRER.

Not attorney, maam.

Yes, good

afternoon, Your Honors.

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Our Ceasefire Committee and AHJAG Committee have prepared a


report complete with the timeline including the details when I had been
contacted at 7:00 a.m. in the morning by the chair of the Ceasefire
Committee informing me of the emerging situation as they have been
able to piece together the information.

But at 7:00 a.m., as you can

note from the report of the AFP, the information was very, very much
incomplete and I had responded and my first question was, Any
casualty?

Is the SAF operation under the regional command of the

PNP or is it under the national command? And I got the answer that
the SAF operation is under the national command. As far as casualties
are concerned, nothing definite yet. That was at around seven
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Who

sent

you

this

information, maam?
MS. CORONEL-FERRER. This was texted to me by the chair of
our Ceasefire Committee who is General Galvez, Carlito Galvez.
In any case, Your Honors, we do have our report to submit to
this Committee. It has been submitted to your Committee complete
with the timeline, focusing on the activities of our mechanisms, the
two mechanismsthe AHJAG mechanism and the ceasefire mechanism
together with the cooperation of the MILF-CCCH, the MILF-AHJAG, as
well as the international monitoring team that comprise the joint

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ceasefire crisis team that was able to effect the ceasefire in the course
of the day.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). At any point during the time
that you were informed from 7:00 a.m., was there any request from
the ground commanders to please call for a ceasefire or to get in touch
with the MILF?
I know that you have a thorough presentation but these are
nagging questions about it.
MS. CORONEL-FERRER.

The account of events would show

that our Ceasefire Committee was not aware of the incident that it was
actually Mr. Rashid Ladiasan here who called our ceasefire chair and
requesting for immediate ceasefire, that was about 6:30 a.m. Because
our Ceasefire Committee was travelling from Iligan City from a visit in
Camp Busra together with Mr. Ladiasan, in fact, and the members of
the independent decommissioning body where they visited another
MILF camp in Lanao province in order to determine possible sites in
relation to the decommissioning process. So actually the information
came from the MILF-CCCH that there was trouble in the area and he
was requesting efforts of the committee that they can undertake to
immediately effect the ceasefire.

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). So the MILF representatives


of the negotiating panel is actually requesting that the government
implement the ceasefire.
MS. CORONEL-FERRER.

They worked together and came to

that kind of an agreement and mobilized their respective forces to


immediately stop the fighting. This was, I believe, at 6:30 a.m. when
the first call was received by General Galvez from Mr. Ladiasan here.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Okay.

There are more

questions to be asked. We will begin now with Senator Trillanes.


SEN. TRILLANES. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
May I request Director Napeas to be seated somewhere in the
middle so the other senators from this side canI think there is a
vacant seat there. Maam, there is vacant seat there. You dont need
to
Director Napeas, good morning, sir. Ito pong imbestigasyon na
ito gusto natin i-clarify lang iyong ibang mga issue. Nothing here will
ever diminish iyong mga kabayanihan nung mga SAF troopers/mpm

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SEN. TRILLANES. nung mga SAF troopers na na-engage sa


operation na ito kasama na iyong mga nasawi at iyong mga nagsurvive. So sinasaluduhan po natin iyong katapangan at kabayanihan
po ng mga tropa ng SAF.
Now, una ko pong itatanong, you mentioned about the January 9
meeting sa Malacaang wherein the President gave the order. Is that
correct, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. Magandang umaga po sa lahat.
Your Honor, hindi po nagbigay ang ating Presidente ng order. It
was a mission update that was provided for.
SEN. TRILLANES.

So may presumption na mayroon nang

previous approval itong mission na ito, Director Napeas?


MR. NAPEAS. As I earlier mentioned, the first operation, the
Terminator 1 that was conducted on November 29, it was already
approved by Director General Purisima at that time when he was still
the chief of the Philippine National Police.
SEN. TRILLANES.

Then na-mention niyo po na si President

Aquino gave specific instructions to you na mag-coordinate with the


AFP. Is that correct?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, sir. That was then the statement of the
president as he stated that in his press statement.

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SEN. TRILLANES. But do you confirm that?


MR. NAPEAS. Yes, it is, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES.
coordinate.

So nagbigay siya ng order sa inyo mag-

Ang statement niyo rin na sinundan kayo ni General

Purisima, sinabihan kayo na huwag munang mag-coordinate.


MR. NAPEAS. Your Honor, the statement of General Purisima,
because he was left behind with the President at that time, we went
ahead outside, his statement that Saka mo na sabihan iyong dalawa
pag nandoon na. Ako na ang bahala kay General Catapang.
SEN. TRILLANES. So ano ang interpretation niyo dito sa sinabi
ni General Purisima?
MR. NAPEAS.

My interpretation on this one, Your Honor, is

that General Purisima is the focal person who is constantly being asked
by the President as to the mission. This was manifested by the fact
that when we were presenting the mission update, he is being
constantly consulted by the President.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Just one.
Sino iyong dalawa?

Because this is the second time that he

mentioned that.
SEN. TRILLANES. Yes, I was going there.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Sorry.

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SEN. TRILLANES.

Sino po iyong dalawa na sinasabi niyo,

Director Napeas?
MR. NAPEAS.

Your Honor, I am referring to the OIC of the

Philippine National Police, Police Deputy Director General Espina and


the secretary of the Interior and Local Government, the Honorable Mar
Roxas II, sir.
SEN. TRILLANES. This is January 9.
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES. You understand noong January 9, suspended
na si General Purisima. Was that clear to you, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor, it is clear to me that he was
already suspended effective January 9.
SEN. TRILLANES.

You are fully aware of your chain of

command at that time?


MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES.

So who was your direct superior, General

Napeas?
MR. NAPEAS. It is the OIC of the Philippine National Police.
SEN. TRILLANES.

So when General Purisima gave you that

statement, you took it as an order, sir, or he was just advising you?

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MR. NAPEAS. It is a statement of General Purisima which I


considered considering the fact that he is the one being constantly
asked by the President on the intricacies of the operation and he is the
one principal officer who has the intelligence packet.
SEN. TRILLANES.

Yes.

But you know, sir, that he was no

longer part of the chain of command at that time?


MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES. So bale kumbaga, sir, nag-take lead (?) ka,
hindi mo in-inform iyong direction superior mo, who is General Espina,
at you took the advice or the statement of General Purisima as an
order. Is that so?
MR. NAPEAS. It is not an order, its a judgment call on my
part not to inform the OIC, PNP beforehand but I informed him after
our troops are already on the ground. Again, as I have said, because
of the statement of General Purisima, which I considered in relation to
the mission.
SEN. TRILLANES. So it was your judgment call. It was not an
order because General Purisima was not part of the chain of command,
he was suspended. Is that correct, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.

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SEN. TRILLANES.

Then, let me just clarify this.

During the

whole operation, who was in command? Who was giving the orders?
MR. NAPEAS.
command post.

I was the one in command at the tactical

At the advance command post, it is the battalion

commander of the 4th Battalion while at the tactical level, it was the
company commanders who were involved in the operation.
SEN. TRILLANES. Okay, thank you.
What about si General Purisima, was there any instance na
nagbigay siya ng utos during the whole operation, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. It is not an order.

He was providing us vital

information through text messages as regards the conduct of the


operation and some items or information pertainingthat he was
talking with the MILF and pertaining to the support that he was asking
from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
SEN. TRILLANES.

I was just clarifying that.

Iyong mga

communications sa inyo ni General Purisima, hindi niyo tine-take iyan


as an order precisely because hindi siya ang operational commander,
kung hindi kayo. Is that correct, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. Thats right, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES.

So kahit na anong anggulo tingnan, kayo

ang nagmamando noong operation. Is that correct?

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MR. NAPEAS. Yes, I was the one handling and directing the
operations in Maguindanao area, sir.
SEN. TRILLANES.

Si General Purisima ba nakagulo doon sa

pag-conduct ng operations?
MR. NAPEAS. Your Honor, hindi po nakagulo, nakatulong po
iyong mga impormasyon na ibinibigay niya sa amin.
SEN. TRILLANES. Nakatulong, okay. Then ito, just, again, to
be clear, mayroon bang sinabi sa inyomay order sa inyo si President
Aquino na huwag reinforce-an iyong mga tropang naiipit? Just for the
record.
MR. NAPEAS. Your Honor, there was no order from us not to
reinforce the troops inside the area of operation. There was no order
given to me regarding that.
SEN. TRILLANES. Okay. So as far as you are concerned, the
only statement you got from the President was for you to coordinate
with the armed forces in relation to this mission?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES. Okay. Then, dito kay General Purisima, sir.
Ill just ask General PurisimaGeneral Espina. Sorry, sir.
General Espina, sir.
MR. ESPINA. Good afternoon, sir.

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SEN. TRILLANES.

Okay.

Liliwanagin ko lang, para lang

malaman ng mga kababayan natin. Iyon bang mga tropang nasawi ay


na-mutilate at dine-secrate o kaya pinagpupugutan ng ulo?

Just for

the record.
MR. ESPINA. Sa report po, sir, wala.
SEN. TRILLANES.

Wala, okay.

So talagang iyong mga

nangyari sa kanila, iyong status nung kanilang katawan ay bunga ito


noong encounter, sir?
MR. ESPINA. Thats correct, sir.
SEN. TRILLANES. Lets just go back to General Napeas.
Since kayo ang operational commander, sir, having seen
everything, ano iyong lessons learned dito sa operation na ito?

Na

kung uulitin niyo itong operation na ito, ano iyong babaguhin niyo, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. Your Honor, we would like really to work very
closely with the Armed Forces of the Philippines on regards to this
matter because this was already discussed after the Butig operation
sometime in July 14 to 16 noong 2012.

Nagkaroon po ng meeting

iyong DILG at saka iyong PNP na magkaroon ng close coordination on


matters sa operation ng mga ganito, sa high-value targets. However,
iyong nangyari po doon sa Libutan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao, iyong
in-abandon kami ng 6th Infantry Division by not providing the

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mechanized brigade during our operations despite due coordination


with them, napakasakit na pangyayari po iyon.
Pangalawa, iyong May 30 na follow-on operation on that, nagcoordinate kami ulit doon sa 6th Infantry Division only to find out by
our intelligence personnel who are doing the reconnaissance, na iyong
vehicle drop-off point namin, punong-puno ng armado na.

And on

June 10, 2014, nag-conduct ng raid iyong 6th Infantry Division at saka
iyong mechanized brigade without our knowledge/jun

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MR. NAPEAS. mechanized brigade without our knowledge


in what coordination for us on the same target that we were doing
operations.
SEN. TRILLANES.

So, in short, sir, kung gagawin niya iyang

mga pagbabago na iyan, maa-accomplish pa rin natin iyong mission


without the loss of the 44?
MR. NAPEAS. I agree with that, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES.

Just a few statements from General

Pangilinan.
Sir, just for the record, may utos ba sa inyo si Presidente Aquino
na huwag kayong mag-reinforce?
MR. PANGILINAN. Your Honor, Major General Pangilinan po.
There was none.

In fact, I do not have direct communication

with the President, sir.


SEN. TRILLANES.

Okay.

Kina-clarify lang natin iyan kasi

maraming mga propagandistang doon dinadala that there was an order


kaya napahamak iyong mga tropa natin its because sinabihan daw ni
Presidente Aquino na huwag mag-reinforce. So, totoo ba iyon o hindi,
again?
MR. PANGILINAN. There was no instruction, sir, Your Honor.
SEN. TRILLANES. Okay. No instruction.

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Just one more question for Director General Espina.


Sir, after this incident, ano ang mga bagong SOPs na ginawa ng
PNP para hindi na mangyari ito muli, sir?
MR. ESPINA.

Candidly, sir, we concentrated so much on the

investigation because we are still in the process of investigating it.


And then well see from there iyong mga lapses ho. Ano ang dapat na
gawin at iwasan in future operations. Thats why we are still halfway
through in the investigation. Mga two weeks from now, sir, well know
ano ba ang dapat hindi gawin.

Pero foremost, ang nakikita ko lang

dito kasi Ive been through the other oplans and I was comfortable
with them, it was always with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We
have the equipment, we have the mechanized infantry brigades, et
cetera, and the assets. Pagka ganito ho kasi ang scale, it has to be
with the armed forces.
SEN. TRILLANES. Maraming salamat.
MR. ESPINA. Opo.
SEN. TRILLANES. Thats all for the first round, Mr. Chairman.
SEN. LEGARDA.

Mr. Chairman, just 30 seconds, in line with

Senator Sonnys intervention.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). We have order.

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SEN. LEGARDA.

I know but its in connection with that, if I

may. Since most of his questions were directed to General Espina and
General Lapea
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Madam Senator, we just
wait for our turn.

There is a long, longIf I give in to that, then I

have to give in to anyone who has


SEN. LEGARDA. Okay. Its not a question. Its a suggestion if
we may subpoena the text messages between the two generals. Okay.
I will manifest it because Im number 17. May I just put on record that
we subpoena the texts and the calls because that was the basis of the
questions of Senator Trillanes.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Yeah, thats good. But
maybe you mean the cellphones themselves.
SEN. LEGARDA. Yes, yes.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Okay.
SEN. LEGARDA. From the Globe, Smart or Sun so that we can
have an accurate assessment of the so-called text communications.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Okay.

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The next senator is Senator Escudero.

Senator Escudero is

recognized.
THE

CHAIRMAN

(SEN.

ESCUDERO).

Thank

you,

Mr.

Chairman.
Kay General Napeas.

Sir, una sa lahat, pakiparating po sa

inyong mga opisyal at miyembro pagbati, pasasalamat at pakikiramay.


Pagbati sa matagumpay na pagpatay kay Marwan; pasasalamat
kaugnay nang kahandaan nilang ialay at actual na pag-alay nila ng
kanilang buhay para sa ating bansa; at pangatlo, pakikiramay sa
kanilang mga mahal sa buhay at gayundin sa inyo at sa mga may
kaibigan sa may pumanaw na Fallen 44.
MR. NAPEAS.

Maraming

salamat

po,

Your

Honor,

at

makakarating po sa ating mga kasamahan iyong sinabi nyo.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Thank you, sir.
Now, sir, tungkol po sa inyong testimonya kanina, sabi nyo 250
killed, at hindi 11 tulad ng unang sinabi ng MILF o 18 tulad ng
pangalawa nilang sinabi.

Ano po ang basehan ng 250?

Is this an

estimate, an intelligence information?


MR. NAPEAS.

Your Honor, ito po ay base mismo doon sa

statement ng ating kapulisan na na-involve doon sa operations at nagsurvive. Iniisa-isa po namin sila na kinunan ng salita kung ilan talaga

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ang tao na kanilang tinamaan at ikinonsolidate (consolidate) ito ni


Police Superintendent Train doon sa assault force at si PO2 Christopher
Lalan doon sa nabuhay na miyembro ng 55th Special Action Company,
Your Honor.
THE

CHAIRMAN

katanungan,

sabi

nyo

(SEN.

ESCUDERO).

protektado

ng

Sunod

MILF,

kung

ko
tama

pong
ang

pagkakaparinig ko, protektado ng MILF si Marwan. Kinukumpirma nyo


po iyon?
MR. NAPEAS.

Sa aming pagtitingin at pagsusuri doon sa

lokasyon na kinaroroonan ni Marwan, nasa less than 500 meters iyong


bahay ni Ustad Sumanan na isa sa mga brigade commander ng MILF.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, itoy inference o

deduction ninyo na imposibleng hindi alam at malamang protektado?


MR. NAPEAS. I agree with that, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Sinabi nyo rin po kanina
na kaya isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit hindi kayo nag-coordinate sa
AFP ay dahil may ugnayan tila ang MILF at ang AFP at nabubulilyaso
iyong mga nauna ninyong tangka. Ano rin po ang basehan noon, sir?
MR. NAPEAS.
Iyong paghahanda

po

Your Honor, hindi po iyon aking pahayag.


ng Armed

Forces of the

Philippines sa

operations, naghahanda iyong mga kasamahan nila, iyong mga tauhan

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nila at oftentimes dahill sa paghahanda sa operation, lumilitaw at


nalalaman iyon ng mga contact ng MILF na nandiyan sa paligid or
nandiyan mismo sa mga kampo ng mga Armed Forces of the
Philippines.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, kayo po mismo

sang-ayon ba doon sa judgment call na iyon na huwag mag-coordinate


muna except TOT na, di ba? Ano po iyong ibig sabihin ng TOT uli?
MR. NAPEAS. Time on target po ng assault force, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). So, doon na lamang sila
bibigyan ng impormasyon dahil po sa ganyang pag-aakala ninyo?
MR. NAPEAS. Base na rin po doon sa experiences namin sa
mga nakaraan na operations na nabanggit ko kanina doon sa April at
saka May at saka iyong June 2014, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). May binanggit po kayong
pangalan ng head ng IG kung saan sabi nyo alam nya kung bakit at
paano nakatakas si Marwan noong 2012.

Ano po ang ibig sabihin

ninyo doon?
MR. NAPEAS. Hindi po iyong director ng IG iyong nabanggit
ko kanina, Your Honor.

Siya po si Police Chief Superintendent Noel

delos Reyes, deputy director ng Intelligence, ng Directorate for


Intelligence at that time, Your Honor.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

May we ask, Madam

Chair, that he be invited as well to shed light just on this specific point.
Is he here? Is he here, sir?
MR. NAPEAS. No, sir, hes not here.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). May we just ask that he
be invited, Madam Chair?
MR. NAPEAS.

Sir, may I inform you that he has already

retired from the service.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). We can still invite him.
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Now, to General Espina.
Sir, you said at close range, pinutukan sa ulo iyong inyong mga
tauhan, iyong mga SAF members natin? Based on your medico-legal
findings, buhay pa ba sila nung pinutukan nang malapit o hindi na?
MR. ESPINA.

Iyong medico-legal report namin, sir, may isa.

Iyong isa naman, sir


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). May isa po na ano
MR. ESPINA.

Na confirmed na pinaputukan sa ulo malapitan

kasi may smudging.

Iyong isa, sir, may indications, sa medico-legal

report din, sir, and the statement of Lalan na narinig na lang nila
pinapuputukan niya isa-isa iyong mga naengkuwentro doon sa field.

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THE

CHAIRMAN

(SEN.

ESCUDERO).

Ilan

po

iyong

pinaputukan na close range na sinasabi nyong isa-isa na buhay pa


base po sa medico-legal at base po sa statement ni Lalan?
MR. ESPINA. Si Lalan po, sir, kinonfirm (confirm) ko lang ho
iyong statement, hindi ho niya malaman kung buhay pa pero naririnig
niya pinapuputukan isa-isa iyong mga naengkuwentro ng mga kalaban.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, hindi niya matiyak

kung pini-finishing lang o kung buhay pa at in-execute?


MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).
knowing, sir?

There is no way of

Hindi ba kaya ng medico-legal iyon dahil hindi ba pag

nagmarka iyong pasa, eh di buhay pa nung pinalo iyon?

Pag

pinaputukan, iba rin po iyong makikita ninyo kung buhay pa at kung


hindi na buhay?
MR. ESPINA. Ill inquire, sir, if its possible to determine kung
buhay pa tapos pinaputukan na sa ulo.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Kindly submit to us, sir,
if at all, the medico-legal findings on this particular point, sir?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir. Well do, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). For both General Espina,
General

Napeas

and

General

Pangilinan,

noticed

youre

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communicating based on your reports by text message and by calls.


So, do you confirm that there is no way that the PNP can actually
communicate with the AFP and vice versa?

And based on the

presentation of Brigadier General de Leon a while ago, sabi nyo nung


nasa field na kayo there was no way to contact the SAF members, the
55thpin down in the MILF side.

Do you confirm that, sir, kaya

nagtetextan (text) na lang kayo?


Sir, General Espina.
MR. ESPINA.

Iyon pong sa aking part, I learned about this

after 5:30 in the morning of January 25. Na-engage na. . . (nam)

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MR. ESPINA.

of January 25. Na-engage na ho iyong mga

tropa. Nagte-text po ako kay General Rusty Guerrero who is the


commander of the Western Mindanao Command. I was in Manila, he
was in Zamboanga. Noong binigay ho sa akin, through text message
rin ho ako naimpormahan ni Director Leo Napeas, I immediately
called up General Guerrero based on the text message of Leo Napeas.
I called him up and told him I was here in Manila and he was there in
Zamboanga, sabi ko, Mistah, tulungan mo naman iyong mga bata.
Mukhang napapaengkwentro. Iyon ho ang sinabi ko sa kanya. Ang
sagot niya sa akin, and he recorded it in his cell phone-THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Also through text or call?
MR. ESPINA.

No, sir. We were talking to each other.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

I dont want to belabor

the point, sir. The question actually is, is there interoperability with the
communication equipment of the PNP and the AFP, either at the
national command or in the field? At your level, General Espina, is
there such a thing?
MR. ESPINA.

Yes, sir, there is. It was already utilized doon sa

papal visit. We could communicate with each other.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Not through cell phone

po. I am talking about


MR. ESPINA.

No, sir. No, sir. By radio.


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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

General Napeas, sir?

MR. NAPEAS. Doon sa tactical level at saka doon sa


operational at saka doon sa tactical command post, wala po kaming
communication ng radio doon sa army doon sa tactical level, dahil
nandodoon na doon sa advance command post iyong mga Philippine
Army. Mayroon po kaming radio doon na nakaka-directly contact doon
sa mga 55th kasama na iyong ibang kumpanya po, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). General de Leon, sir, in
your presentation you saidSorry, who made the presentation earlier?
Or if I can ask our chief of staff?
In your presentation, you said nasa field na kaya wala na kayong
contact doon sa napapalabang SAF. I refer to page 16 of your
presentation, slide No. 32, 9:20 a.m. Troops of the 23rd Mechanized
Company, Mechanized Company blah, blah, blah, tried to link up with
elements of 55th SAC but failed because there is no contact and
communication to them as it was in the open field. Sir?
MR. NAPEAS. General Pangilinan, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).
MR.

PANGILINAN.

Your

General Pangilinan, sir.

Honor,

wala

pong

radio

communication during that time. In fact, magkaiba po ang radio na


ginagamit po ng PNP at ng Army. But it is very possible na pupwede
magkaroon

ng

kasunduan

kung

magkakaroon

ng

kasunduan

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pagpaplano na pupwedeng iyong aking radioman could be sent with


them or their radioman could be placed on my troops so that there will
be interoperability. Iyan po ang kadalasan naming ginagawa.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

But that was not done

here?
MR. PANGILINAN.

Not done in this incident, Your Honor.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

In this particular

incident it was not done? At any point in time, sir? During the entire
incident, this was not done?
MR. PANGILINAN.

It was not done, Your Honor, except in the

afternoon in or about 1700 when I was already in the tactical


command post of my brigade commander, that was the time that I
have a direct, a face-to-face communication with commander of
Special Action Force.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

That was 12 hours mula

noong nagsimula iyong bakbakan?


MR. PANGILINAN.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Now, if I may proceed,

Madam Chairman.
Sinabi rin po, General Pangilinan, dito sa presentation ninyo na
kayo po ba ang binabanggit dito--hindi ninyo pinayagan iyong number

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three option. Pinayagan ninyo iyong one and two. Iyong number three
option is to utilize the 105th Artillery. Referring to you, sir?
MR. PANGILINAN. Yes, sir, Your Honor. Totoo po iyon.
Nagprisinta po ang aking brigade commander, si Colonel del Rosario,
about the concept of reinforcement and extrication of the SAF. He gave
three courses of action. The first one is to provide support by
mechanized infantry; second is the insertion of the division recon
company; and third is the firing of the artillery. I said on the first two,
its Go, but on the third I said, Hold. Because we dont have a
complete information of the actual situation that is happening on the
ground, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Sir, can I ask? I think

Secretary Gazmin can validate this too. Correct me if I am wrong. By


experience,

hindi

ba,

pag

nagpasabog

kayo

doon

ng

white

phosphorous, alam na noong mga kalaban ng pamahalaan doon na


ang susunod doon ay bomba na. Nagtatakbuhan na iyon palayo. And
white phosphorous is not deadly, correct me if I am wrong, even if it
hits somewhere near where our troops are. Is that an accurate
statement, sir?
MR. GAZMIN. No, sir. It can cause burning to the troops.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Parang lumiliyab po ba

siya?
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MR. GAZMIN.

Masusunog ka, sir.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

But the portion where

once you fire it, totoo po ba na it can provide some sort of at least
leeway and time on the part of our troops dahil medyo aatras yung
kalaban? By experience.
MR. GAZMIN.

Kailangan malaman mo kung nasaan yung

kalaban at malaman mo kung nasaan iyong friendly troops so that you


know where to hit.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

But isnt that, sir, also a

reference point? Thats what is used to exactly know and find out
where our troops are in relation to their enemies?
MR. GAZMIN.

Correct, but you should know the exact location

of both, the enemy position and the friendly forces position.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Sir, General Pangilinan,

sir, we did not know that and we only found out about that at 5:30
P.M.?
MR. PANGILINAN.

During the course of the incident, Your

Honor, dahan-dahan po naming nakukuha iyong mga informations


dahil unang-una po, hindi namin alam kung ilan ang SAF na nagoperate; hindi namin alam kung saan iyong kanilang area of operation;
hindi po namin alam kung anong lugar at iyong eksakto, lalung-lalo na
po kung dito ay may mga civilian communities. Iyon po ang mga
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consideration na atin pong kino-consider in order for us iyong firing po


ng artillery.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

To clarify, sir. So lahat

ng hinahanap ninyong impormasyon, nakuha ninyo lamang ng alas5:00, alas-5:30 kaya doon pa lamang kayo nakapagpaputok ng white
phosphorous?
MR. PANGILINAN. Your Honor, sa katunayan po doon lamang
namin nalaman na mayroon pa palang isang grupo ng SAF that is
operating. Noong una po, noong umaga, ang alam namin ay isa
lamang pong grupo na which later we found out that is the 55th SAC.
Hindi po namin alam na mayroon pa rin po palang 84th SAC. Nalaman
lang po namin iyan noong ako, personally, went to the tactical
command post of my brigade at the Old Capitol, Shariff Aguak
building, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Thank you, sir.

Id like to utilize my time, Madam Chair. Just two more points.


Mr. Ladiasan, sir, and Dr. Coronel, maam. MILF ang tumawag sa
inyo at 7 oclock na nagkakaroon ng bakbakan, is that correct? Did I
hear you correctly?
MS. CORONEL-FERRER. At 6:38 a.m., ang tinawagan po ni
Ginoong Ladiasan ay si General Galvez who is his counterpart in our
ceasefire.
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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

And he is representing

the MILF, right?


MS. CORONEL-FERRER. Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, sir, at 6:30 alam

ninyo na na ang kalaban ng MILF ay government troops because you


were asking for a ceasefire already from your counterpart? So at 6:30
in the morning, the MILF knew na SAF o hindi man, sundalo, basta
gobyerno ang kalaban nila. Would that be an accurate statement, sir?
MR. LADIASAN. Ang unang information ko po, Your Honor, sa
akin

pong

counterpart

ay

pinapa-check

ko

po

kung

ano

ang

information doon sa bakbakan sa Tukanalipao. At ang sinabi ko pa nga


sa kanya is military iyong engaged. At ang pinaka-immediate na
gagawin ko dito ay isi-ceasefire na po natin iyong-THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). So, my question is at
6:30Sir, I am presuming in the letter of Senator Cayetano a while
ago na sinasabi ng MILF, sagot na raw ng Pangulo, which is not
entirely accurate, ang legislative branch, ang judiciary. Here, I am
assuming too when we say MILF, we are talking to one unit. So, at
6:30, alam na ng MILF na ang kalaban nila government troops,
whether pulis man o sundalo?
MR. LADIASAN. Opo, Your Honor.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Why did it takeHow

many hours, maam?-- six to seven hours bago masabihan? Because


the

SAF

could

have

easily

called

up

their

units,

may

radio

communication naman at cell phone at Tigil. But why did it take six
to seven hours before the MILF/jadc

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

...six to seven hours

before the MILF could instruct and order their men on the field to stop
fighting?

And in fact they only stopped fighting when everyone was

already dead.
MR. LADIASAN.

Your Honor, ang una pong sinabi ko sa

counterpart namin ay isi-ceasefire na natin ito at ito ang instruction ng


aming leadership po sa Darapanan.

Ang continuing engagement po

namin sa counterpart with the government is paano ho namin isiceasefire. And umabot na nga po sa point na we organized iyong task
force and moved to the area. Relayed na po iyong mga information sa
grounds pero iyong pag-e-execute noong ceasefire ay hindi madali
considering iyong situation sa ground at iyong mga communication na
constraints,

iyon ang nagiging elemento kung bakit kami din ay

nahirapan.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). But, sir, my question is,
we have ongoing peace talks between the two of us, meaning
government and MILF.

At the first information na nalaman ninyong

government forces iyon, hindi pala sila nilusob ng BIFF, hindi pala Abu
Sayyaf iyon, hindi pala ibang lawless elements iyon, gobyerno ito.
Hindi

ba dapat ang immediate reaction tigil na agad whether

tinawagan ninyo, whether sinabihan ninyo, whether kinausap ninyo,

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shouldnt that be the immediate reaction? The AFP clearly played its
role insofar as their commitment is concerned.
clarification.

They sought

They didnt want to perhaps make that conflict or

conflagration bigger. But on the part of the MILF, sir, I am curious,


bakit hindi po ganoon kung alam na pala ninyo 6 a.m. pa lang, 6:30 na
gobyerno iyong kalaban ninyo?
MR. LADIASAN.

Ganoon din po talaga ang aming intention

sana, Your Honor, ise-separate namin kaagad, isi-ceasefire, iseseparate namin, idi-disengage ang situation sa ground. Kaya lang po
iyong coordination ang naging problema. Unang-una ho wala kaming
natanggap na coordination but still we wanted to coordinate our efforts
to really effect the ceasefire as soon as possible. And nang tinawagan
po namin ang mga ground

commanders at hindi ko po intention na

pangunahan iyong imbestigasyon, pero ang unang-una pong sinabi na


sa amin sila ang unang pinutukan at dalawa kaagad ang tinamaan at
isa ang namatay sa tropa namin na na-engage noong SAF doon sa
may Tukanalipao.

At ito na nga po ang sinabi ko sa subsequent na

mga communications sa counterpart and which we are very engaged


and have a very good efforts jointly during that tragic incident, paano
po tayo makakapunta kaagad sa area at iko-coordinate natin mabuti
iyong efforts dahil ayaw po namin itong nangyari.

Wala pong may

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gusto po sa nangyari na ito. Pati po kami pinatayan din at marami din


pong wounded, Your Honor.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Wala naman po talagang
may gusto noong nangyari.
One last point, Madam Chair, just a question to Secretary De
Lima.
Maam, just to clarify, correct me if Im wrong, as a lawyer and
secretary of Justice, a peace agreement does not and will not change
our criminal laws.
MS. DE LIMA. Yes, sir, definitely.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

The peace agreement

does not grant amnesty, does it?


MS. DE LIMA. Yes, Your Honor, it does not.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). It does not.
MS. DE LIMA. Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, kung lalabas po,

halimbawa, sa imbestigasyon ng Crime Laboratory ng PNP na buhay


pa,

meaning

hindi

na

in

self-defense,

charges

can

be

filed

notwithstanding the ongoing peace agreement, is that the position of


the DOJ, maam?

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MS. DE LIMA. Subject to the results of the investigation, yes.


Because our position, Your Honors, is that the fact that there is an
existing peace agreement between the GPH and MILF, does not affect
the powers of the state to enforce its laws and run after violators of
the laws.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Regardless of any such

agreement.
MS. DE LIMA. Yes, Your Honors, it does not, it cannot suspend
the authority of the state to enforce its laws.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). May I know, maam, by
way of a parallel question, do you remember the Al-Barka incident
wherein 24 or so of our soldiers, very much like this incident
supposedly stepped on the line, nag-stepping on the line daw sila,
lumampas at pumasok sa territory ng MILF and they were killed. In
fact some of them were beheaded.

May I know if DOJ is doing

something also along those lines because it is very similar?


MS. DE LIMA.

I will check, Your Honors.

Im sorry, I dont

know the status of the criminal cases filed if there have been criminal
charges or criminal cases filed with respect to that incident.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

General Catapang, sir,

just one question on that. Ano pong status noon? Naalala ninyo pa
iyon, I am sure. That is difficult to forget as well.
MR. CATAPANG.

Based on our investigation, there was a

punishment for the officers who were commanding and that caused his
going down to the--about 25 files and he not being recommended for
promotion.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

But, sir, thats what is

sad. Iyong opisyal na nagkamali pinarusahan at kinort (court) martial


pero iyong pumatay at namugot, my question is, were cases even filed
against them even John Does?
MR. CATAPANG. There is an ongoing investigation on that.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). How long was that ago,
sir?
MR. CATAPANG.

I think--

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). That was 2010, 2011, if I


am not mistaken.
Secretary De Lima, maam.
MS. DE LIMA.

Yes, Your Honor.

I was just reminded by

General Espina that indeed criminal cases have been filed against 100
or so accused.

And in fact warrants of arrest have been issued

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although there had been several or there are several John Does in that
particular criminal information. So, there are cases filed, Your Honors.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). One last question on that
point, Madam Chair, and I will yield.
Secretary Deles, are you aware of this and what is the
government panel that is supposed to be protecting the side of the
government doing about these things?
MS. DELES. May I be clarified, sir, about which-THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Warrants of arrest were
issued according to them and that particular encounter involved the
MILF. Is that even being talked about? Is government even insisting
on that?
MS. DELES. Yes, Your Honor, if our justice department or any
other department in government says that certain things have to
happen, then certainly that is communicated to the MILF.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

So, they havent,

maam?
MS. DELES.

In the matter of the law enforcement with Al-

Barka, Your Honor, I understand that it was not seen that OPAPP
needed to play a role here.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). It was not, maam?

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MS. DELES. I think it was not seen that OPAPP needed to have
a role here because the security forces took over the investigation.
The DOJ has its role with-THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO). Maam, there are already
warrants of arrest. Arent you discussing or taking this up even with
your counterparts to cooperate? I bring this up, maam, because this
might fall under the same category again and I would want to avoid
that situation.
MS. DELES. Your Honor, we have at every point including now
very strongly expressed the need for cooperation and accountability of
the MILF, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Can you give us an

update, maam, as well on this Al-Barka incident or update insofar as


the warrants of arrest at another time po, hindi na po ngayon.
MS. DELES. Yes, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. ESCUDERO).

Thank you, Madam

Chair.
Thank you, Secretary Deles.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Madam Chair, just a follow up on

one point on Senator Escuderos question, if I may on Mr. Ladiasan?


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes, Senator Drilon.

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THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Ang sinabi ninyo po alas sais ng

umaga alam ninyo na ang tropa ng pamahalaan ang na-engage nitong


MILF? Is that a correct recollection?
MR. LADIASAN.

Opo, ang una po naming pagkakaalam based

sa aming information is military po iyong na-engage.


THE

SENATE

PRESIDENT.

Whether

military

or

police,

pamahalaan.
MR. LADIASAN. Opo, sir.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Now, so nag-request ka ng

ceasefire to your counterpart in the government peace panel or to


whoever in the government?
MR. LADIASAN.

I did not request po.

Ang sinabi ko po sa

kanila, Your Honor, is we will work out on the ceasefire as soon as


possible and we will work to ...
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

All right.

Now, did you make a

similar request to the MILF commanders knowing na gobyerno ang


kaharap?
MR. LADIASAN. Opo, sir. In fact I relayed the instruction sa
Darapanan, iyong leadership po ng Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces
na we have to--ceasefire po.

Ang problema po kasi sa situation sa

ground ang hirap na po iyong close encounter.

Ang dami po kasing

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naging constraints at ang situation po is parang self-defense at battle


for survival po. Ang hirap po noong encounter po.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Did you say.../hsg

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THE SENATE PRESIDENT. ...Did you say that you relayed


instructions to the BIFF?
MR. LADIASAN. Sorry po, Your Honor, I meant po BIAF, the
military structure of the MILF.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. BIAF.
MR. LADIASAN. BIAF, opo, Your Honor.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. So, in fact, you're saying now that
there was also a request for a ceasefire on your end but you could not
implement it? Is that what you're saying?
MR. LADIASAN. To effect ho, ganoon po dahil po sa ang hirap
ng situation po sa ground na close encounter at talaga pong ang sabi
nga po nila, ng mga commanders po sa area, ang galing po noong kaengage at hirap na hirap din po sila.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. I see. Is this a failure of the chain of
command, if any, exist in the MILF?
MR. LADIASAN. Hindi po, sir. Buong puso po kaming nagkocoordinate, nakikipagtulungan sa gobyerno simula pa po sa simula. At
ang amin pong puwersa ay buong puso din pong nagpatupad ng
kooperasyon through the mechanism po ng GPH-MILF sa CCCH
protocols. At sa lahat po ng ginawa po na iyon ay wala po kaming
engagement with the government at ang dami po naming mga

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successes na ginawa po na ganoong klaseng pagtutulungan po, Your


Honor.
Thank you.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). We will now proceed with
Senator Sotto, for your questions, please.
SEN. SOTTO. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll try to be as brief as possible. My extra minutes, I would like to
donate to the resident military expert in the Senate, Senator Honasan
Sr. and military expert inside and outside the Constitution, Mr.
President.
At the outset, just for the record, allow me to say that I have no
reason whatsoever to doubt the initial findings of the Board of Inquiry
because the chairman now who is the CIDG chief used to be one of my
best operating officers when I was head of the Dangerous Drugs Board,
he was the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operations then. So I
know the man.
Anyway, the beginning of this operation and perhaps, General
Magalong or Secretary Mar Roxas may answer this, the beginning of
this operation was attributed to a warrant of arrest. Has anybody here
seen or taken hold of that warrant of arrest?

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MR. MAGALONG. Your Honor, we have copies of the warrants of


arrest of both Basit Usman and Marwan.
SEN. SOTTO. What courts issued it?
MR. MAGALONG. Sir, we have a copy, unfortunately, sir, hindi
ko gaanong alam iyong detalye kung saang korte. But we can provide
you, sir, copies of the warrants of arrest.
SEN. SOTTO. Okay. That includes the crime committed in
Indonesia?
MR. MAGALONG. No, sir, dito lang po.
SEN. SOTTO. Dito lang sa atin. So, are you willing to submit--is
it proper to submit to the Committee copies of-MR. MAGALONG. Yes, we will provide you copies of the warrants
of arrest.
SEN. SOTTO. Ito ang simula, hindi ba?
MR. MAGALONG. Yes, sir.
SEN. SOTTO. Thank you very much then.
Now, let me go to General Napeas.
Where were you during the incident? Sabi ninyo doon kayo sa
Tactical Command Post?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, sir, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. Saan po iyong Tactical Command Post?

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MR. NAPEAS. The Tactical Command Post that we utilized for


the operations is located with the 43rd Special Action Company
Headquarters, co-located with the Maguindanao Police Provincial Police
Office in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, sir.
SEN. SOTTO. Malayo sa Mamasapano? Mamasapano, that's the
way they pronounce it in Mindanao, Mamasapano.
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor. That's approximately 10 to 11
kilometers from the Advance Command Post, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. All right. And Senator Osmea and I are interested
in how you monitored the events and the incidentby radio--mayroon
ba kayong access to a drone or something to that effect para mamonitor ninyo ang mga pangyayari?
MR. NAPEAS. We monitored through our radio communication
system, tactical radios; then we monitored through another radio
communication system which is the Motorola; then we have satellite
phone and we have individual cell phones, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. That's it?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. No access to any high-tech gadgets?
MR. NAPEAS. The Philippine National Police Special Action
Force has no high-tech gadget. We're limited to the Harris radio,
Motorola radio, satellite phone and individual cell phone, Your Honor.
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SEN. SOTTO. All right. Just one more question. To clear also
some of the reports, perhaps Secretary Roxas may be able to give us a
reaction.
There was a statement by the assistant director in charge of the
FBI Los Angeles, David Bowdich, and part of his statement reads,
"Although the results of the DNA examinations do not provide absolute
identification, the results do support that the biological sample provided
by Philippine authorities came from Marwan."
What is your comment on this, Secretary Roxas?
MR. ROXAS. Thank you, sir.
Sir, that phrase is embodied sa sulat na pinadala noong FBI at
opisyal na natanggap ng PNP. At sa aking pagkaunawa po, iyong DNA
testing is never 100 percent. What they have are degrees of
probability.
Ang pagkaunawa ko po is that iyong kapatid ni Marwan ay bihag
din doon sa Amerika or in one of their prisons. So, kinumpara iyong
DNA ni Marwan doon sa record ng DNA ng kanyang kapatid na
nagpapakita na very high ang overlap. In short, parehas ang magulang
nito, parang iyon ang sinasabi.
SEN. SOTTO. Ang degree, so are they practically sure, are they
somewhat sure, are they sure?

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MR. ROXAS. Sa aking pagbasa ng sulat ay they are sure except


that scientifically nga, hindi talaga 100 percent pero ganoon na nga.
SEN. SOTTO. All right.
MR. ROXAS. Sir, the only way that you can be 100 percent is
kung mayroong DNA ni Marwan noon at ikukumpara mo sa DNA niya
ng nakuhang sample, one is to one iyon.
SEN. SOTTO. All right.
MR. ROXAS.

Ang ginawang proseso dito is, iyong kapatid ni

Marwan may DNA at itong si Marwan may DNA at iyon ang ipinagcompare.
SEN. SOTTO. For the record also, siguro, General Benjie, ano
bang finger ang pinutol? Iyong kausap namin ni Senator Honasan na
isa sa mga survivors doon sa 13 na pumasok, ang sinesenyas sa akin
iyong thumb. Ano ba ang dinala nila?
MR. MAGALONG. Your Honor, it's the index finger.
SEN. SOTTO. So itong index finger?
MR. MAGALONG. Yes, ang totoo po.
SEN. SOTTO. So, maaaring noong kaguluhan, medyo nalilito na
sila noong pinanood nilang pinuputol or something like that. You are
100 percent sure. Do you have pictures of the actual finger?
MR. MAGALONG. None, Your Honor, wala po kaming pictures.
SEN. SOTTO. Secretary Roxas.
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MR. ROXAS.

Madam Chair, Mr. Senator, in the interest of

finding out, perhaps the SAF commander can know because which of
his men--That sample did not pass through the PNP. I don't know. I
think the SAF provided it and eventually it got to the FBI. So, they
would be in the best position to know kanino nila binigay--iyong
operatives, kanino nila binigay iyong sample na iyon.
SEN. SOTTO. Sige, General Napeas. Kasi ang pagkakaalam
namin, pinutol, dala-dala noong team leader, napatay iyong team
leader, kinuha noong mga kasama, naitawid ng ilog, sino iyon at kanino
ibinigay?
MR. NAPEAS. Tama po iyon, Your Honor. Ang pumutol
doon.../mhu

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MR. NAPEAS.
Police

Senior

ang pumutol doon sa kamay niya ay si late

Inspector

Tabdi.

Naipasa

niya

iyon

kay

Police

Superintendent Train at iyon ay nadala doon sa headquarters noong


43rd SAF doon sa TCP at ako ho mismo nakita ko iyong index finger na
nakabalot ng isang plastic.

Makikita po natin doon sa picture niya

dahil kulang na yungnoong namatay siya makikita doon iyong kamay


na naputol na, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. So iyon yung siguradong dala, iyong nakita ninyo
sa picture?
MR. NAPEAS.

Your Honor, ipinakita sa akin mismo ni

Superintendent Train nakabalot ng plastic nga iyong daliri na naputol


doon kay Marwan, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO. All right. Thank you.
Dinala sa kanila, saan dineliver (deliver) initially iyong daliri?
MR. NAPEAS.

Doon po sa Tactical Command Post, Your

Honor.
SEN. SOTTO.

Doon sa inyo, sa Tactical Command Post, doon

dinala?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.

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SEN. SOTTO.

At kayo naman pinadala ninyo na sapinadala

ninyo o mayroong representative na ang FBI doon sa tactical


command?
MR. NAPEAS. Hindi po ako ang nagbigay dahil nandodoon po
kay Superintendent Train iyon, nakita ko lang dahil inilagay na doon sa
freezer dahil nangangamoy na at later nga naibigay na nila.

Wala

akong knowledge kung sino nagbigay from among doon sa troopers ng


SAF doon sa FBI, Your Honor.
SEN. SOTTO.

Who would know?

Paanong nakarating sa FBI,

Benjie?
MR. MAGALONG. Your Honor, the finger was actually around
that was Tuesday or Wednesday kasi, sir, hinahanap ko rin iyong
specimen. Ang sabi sa akin ni Raymond Train, Sir, on the way na po
iyong tao po natin papunta po sa GenSan dahil nandoon na po iyong
dalawang FBI agents. We have the name of the, sir, iyong mga FBI
agents. Doon na tinanggap iyong specimen and properly received, sir,
with the right receipt.
SEN. SOTTO.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I will terminate my

questions at this point.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Senator Gringo, I will just

add to the question in line, same line of questioning of Senator Sotto.

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With regards to the body of Marwan, ito po ay medyo malapit sa


MILF territory hindi po ba? Nabanggit po ninyong MILF na itoy a few
hundred meters away, tama ba ako? Ito ba ay nasa teritoryo ng BIFF
or MILF, si Marwan noong nakita?
Sa MILF po, kahit sino po sa inyong dalawa.
MR. LADIASAN. Your Honor, as to the exact location po iyong
saan natago iyong body ni Marwan ay hindi pa po namin na-clear, pero
iyong area po kung saan siya napatay ay area po ng BIFF, iyong
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter. At kung correct po ang aming
information, doon din po siya inilibing sa area ng BIFF.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). So iyong katawan niya-iyong
impormasyon ninyo ay nalibing na doon sa teritoryo ng BIFF?
MR. LADIASAN. Yes po, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Mga gaano kalayo iyon sa

inyong teritoryo?
MR. LADIASAN. Iyong area po ng information naminhindi ko
po

masabi

kung

saan,

for

security

concernay

its

civilian

community. Hindi natin masabi po na talagang haven or area po ng


anumang grupo dahil ang tao po doon ay halo doon sa napaglibingan
po ng katawan ng nasabing si Marwan po, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Senator Honasan.

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SEN. HONASAN. Maraming salamat po, Madam Chair.


Sa ating mga resource persons, magandang hapon po sa inyong
lahat.
Ito pong hinaharap natin na sitwasyon ay napakaselan.

Very

sensitive because may national security implications, may political


implications, may constitutional implications, may legal, may social,
may

economic,

may

religious

pa

nga

po,

implications

ito,

at

nababanggit din iyong posibleng epekto nito doon sa kasalukuyang


usaping pangkapayapaan. Kaya mula doon sa pinagmulan nito, iyong
planning, iyong intelligence reports ay dapat naging maingat.
Sa puntong ito po, Madam Chair, with your permission, let me
refer to the highest legal authority in the Executive Department,
Secretary Leila. Pag may duda po, may grey area, whether may ongoing peace process, I guess, please tell the Committee, all these
doubts have to be resolved in terms of the highest law of the land, the
Constitution. Is this an accurate statement?
MS. DE LIMA. Certainly, Your Honor.
SEN. HONASAN.

Opo.

So nasa core principles ng ating

Saligang Batas iyong pangangalaga sa territorial integrity, national


sovereignty at napapaloob din diyan iyong protectionnasa Bill of
Rights po ito, sa Section 3 kung hindi ako nagkakamaliprotection of

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life, liberty and property.

Pero unang-una pong binanggit iyong life.

In other words, pag may duda pag may sitwasyon, when you invoke
the right to life, lahat ho ng konsiderasyon tabi na bastat buhay ang
pinag-uusapan.
MS. DE LIMA.

That is correct.

In the hierarchy of rights,

particularly human rights, right to life is primordial.

Its the number

one right.
SEN. HONASAN. Yes, maam. Maraming salamat po.
Pangalawa po, Madam Chair, sa aking pananaw po hanggang sa
puntong ito ang pinanggagalingan ng ating impormasyon ay news
reports. Ang news report po ay news. Nasasagot minsan iyong what,
when, where, who. Paminsan-minsan po, pahapyaw nasasagot iyong
why pero a news report is a news report.

A news report is not an

official report.
Secretary Roxas, may I
MR. ROXAS. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Can we agree that a news report is not an

official report?
MR. ROXAS. Thats correct, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. Okay. So I will go to that later.
Now let me address Police Director General OIC Espina.

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MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.


SEN. HONASAN. Dindo, ano?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. You are the highest ranking police officer.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Technically, this operation was to serve

warrants of arrest.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Okay.

May kasabihan tayo noon, kahit na

doon sa pinanggalingan nating eskuwela na, A commander is


responsible

for

two

things:

the

welfare

of

his

men

and

the

accomplishment of the mission.


MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

A commander, at whatever levels, is also

responsible for what his unit, his men do or fail to do.


MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Okay.

Now let me address Leo, Chief

Superintendent Napeas.
Leo, from an old soldier to a young and better soldier, I think,
the only way you can honor our fallen brothers in arms, the so-called

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heroes, is to tell the truth and to stay the course whatever the
consequences are. Okay.
Alam mo rin, Leo, as a commander of a special unit like the
SAFIm not downgrading lives herein training or in actual combat,
there is an acceptable casualty rate as long as you are able to balance
the accomplishment of the mission which is primary, and the welfare
and safety of your men.

These two complement each other.

Hindi

puwedeng puro misyon lang, baka wala ka nang taong pangaccomplish ng mission. Hindi rin puwedeng puro welfare of the men,
dahil who will attend to the mission. Is this an accurate recollection?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, sir. That is very true.
SEN. HONASAN.

In other words, given this, our men, tayo,

ikaw, when we took our oath as police officers, to be members of one


of

the

legally

authorized

armed

groups,

in

our

democratic

society/cbg

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SEN. HONASAN.

in our democratic society, tanggap na

natin na kasama iyan. Our job description tells us almost literally that
in the performance of duty, you must be willing to die or you must be
willing to do what is necessary to accomplish your mission.
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor. Nabanggit ko na nga po diyan
sa opening statement ko kanina that we knew the high risk of our
chosen profession that we may lose our lives in doing so, Your Honor.
SEN. HONASAN. Thank you, Superintendent Napeas.
Madam Chair, my next questions will be answerable by yes or no
because I direct this again to Director General OIC Dindo Espina.
Nagsisimula po ito sa intelligence report, iyong referred to kanina as
an intelligence packet. Is this correct?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. Can you furnish the Committee a copy of this,
subject to security requirements, classification.
MR. ESPINA. We will comply, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. After an intelligence report, we move into a
project proposal.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. That exists?

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Madam Chair, kaya ko po binibigyan ng diin ito dahil from the


intelligence report or a consolidation of the same, you move into a
project proposal and then you develop an operations plan and then you
execute and after execution, there is an after operations report.
Madam Chair, to our resource persons, Dindo, these are all
written, documented, signed with a distribution list based on the need
to know basis, correct?
MR. ESPINA. Supposed to be, sir, but it was not submitted to
us. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. Yes, Dindo, yes or no lang ito.
MR. ESPINA. Thats correct, sir. Thats correct.
SEN. HONASAN. Because I am not interested in who.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Okay. Why do we do this? As mandated by

law, it pinpoints authority. Sino ang sumulat, sino ang pinadalhan at


sino ang binigyan ng kopya. Is this correct?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

It pinpoints responsibility. It pinpoints, if

warranted, accountability.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.

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SEN. HONASAN. So, please furnish the Committee, with your


permission, Madam Chair, copies of this.
MR. ESPINA. Your Honor.
SEN. HONASAN. Yes.
MR. ESPINA. The only thing that was submitted to us during
the course of the investigation by the BOI is only the intelligence
packet. All others, none.
SEN. HONASAN.

Dindo, there is no correct or wrong answer

here.
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

When you do not submit, you will have to

explain to the Committee, through the Chair, why you cannot submit
such a document?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN. Okay. Now, coordination, Madam Chair, ladies
and gentlemen has been mentioned here. Coordination is not an
abstract term. Coordination is a written and documented ingredient of
an operations plan. In fact, whether you are talking about the ceasefire
mechanisms or the planning stage or the project proposal, coordination
in fact, considering the many dimensions of this cannot be verbal. It
cannot be a text message. In fact, it is proactive because as we now

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have experienced, at alam po ito nina Professor Ferrer. Proactive ito


dahil iniiwasan natin na magkaputukan. Once magkaputukan, ang
hirap pigilan niyan. Like in this case, it took us almost 12 hours to stop
the fighting. Is this an accurate observation?
MR. ESPINA. Yes, sir.
SEN. HONASAN.

Finally, Madam Chair, because Ive been

warned that I have one minute, although Senator Sotto has donated
some of his time to me.
Madam Chair, may I respectfully submit through the Chair of the
Committee and this is a request to both Secretary Gazmin and
Secretary Roxas that we instruct our subordinates within the chain of
command to refrain from making public statements that will not reflect
the accuracy, the complete picture of what happened prematurely until
a terminal report or a consolidated report is given to the Committee.
Why? Because every name that we mention, every unit that we
mention implies that perceptions. Baka ho magkaroon ng idea iyong
mga kababayan natin na mayroon tayong inaabsuwelto o inaakusa at
pinagbibintangan at hinuhusgahan.
In fact po, Madam Chair, as a final statement before I close my
remarks and my questions for this round, ito hong sinasabingthere
are about six to eight agencies investigating this. This is not accurate,

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Madam Chair. That is the identified duly constituted, legally authorized


agencies. As we speak, kanya-kanya hong imbestigasyon iyan, kanyakanyang witness. Ang mahirap po nito, in terms of public perception at
kanya-kanya ng verdict. And this is not the first time that this has
happened.
Pag-ingatan ho natin ito dahil lives, again, are involved.
Reputations are involved. The integrity of certain units are involved.
And the life of the nation is involved. So, pag-ingatan ho natin ito and I
am happy that this hearing has commenced so that we can put all this
in perspective.
And lastly, of course, which I reiterated earlier, the security
consideration. More than anything else, when we put the lives of
witnesses, on operatives, whether they are members of the police
force or the armed forces, innocent civilians or even rebels in jeopardy,
then we must invoke the core principles of our highest law of the land.
Salamat po, Madam Chair.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Thank

you,

Senator

Honasan.
This is in line also with the question of Senator Honasan and
then also the question of Senator Guingona. Are you familiar, sir--I
know youre with the PNP but are you familiar, Chief Superintendent

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Napeas, on the SMEAC (Situation, Mission, Execution, Administration,


Communication)?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

And the reason why I am

asking this is bago po kasi kayo sumalakay o gumawa ng isang


operation, may paper trail po, tama?
MR. NAPEAS.

Mayroon po iyang tinatawag na operation

plan, Your Honor.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Iyong operation plan na

iyon, for the record, I would like for you to submit that.
MR. NAPEAS. We will submit, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Kasi po inako ninyo from the
very beginning na inyo pong judgment call ito and this will lead to your
question, Senator Guingona. Inyong judgment call po ito. Tama po ba?
MR. NAPEAS. Iyong sinabi ko kanina, iyong judgment call po
iyong pagsasabi kay OIC-PNP, si Police Deputy Director General Espina
na nandodoon na iyong tropa na sasabihan ko siya, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Opo. So, ang ibig sabihin po
kasi

alam

ninyo

naman

pong

may

suspension

order

iyong

Ombudsman. So, this judgment call could jeopardize actually your


situation because kung saka-sakali pong mapatunayan na you broke

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the chain of command at mayroon pong hindi pagsunod sa tamang


decorum o kung anuman iyong mga batas ay maaari pong iyon mismo
ninyong retirement o iyon mismong pension ninyo na 36 years ninyong
pinaghirapan ay biglang puwede pang ma-question, puwede pong
ngayon ay inalis kayo sa SAF pero nandiyan pa rin po kayo sa PNP.
Ang sinsasabi ko lang po, siyempre may mga tungkulin tayong dapat
protektahan pero kailangan din iyung katotohanan kung ano talaga
iyong nangyari ang papairalin natin. At sa inyo, mayroon din po kasing
mga repercussions na maaaring mangyari dahil nga sinasabi ninyo iyon
ang desisyon ninyo pero inutos ng wala ng dapat otoridad tungkol dito.
So, iyon lamang po. At si Senator Guingona na po ang
magtatanong.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Thank you, Madam

Chair.
General Purisima, anong nasa utak po ninyo noong in-order-an
mo si General Napeas na huwag nang sabihin sa dalawa? So, in
effect, kasi ano, in-order-an mo siya not to follow the chain of
command because the immediate superior of General Napeas is
General Espina. Ano po ang nasa utak ninyo? Anong motivation ninyo
para sabihin iyan?

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MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, Madam Chair, during my

preventive suspension/rommel

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MR. PURISIMA.

...during my preventive suspension, I did not

give any orders to any PNP official or personnel regarding Oplan


Exodus. But if ever I uttered words to that effect, it was in the form of
an advice, not as a directive or order. This may be also in support to
their plan that they will inform everyone, time on target.
As a decorated law enforcement officer and director of PNP
Special Action Force, no less, Your Honor, Police Director Napeas
knows very well that he cannot and should not follow orders from
anyone who is not in the chain of command such as from a suspended
police officer.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

But we know from the

narration, the way it seems, he was really taking instructions from


you, certainly not from General Espina. And if he was receiving
instructions, then you were giving orders.
MR. PURISIMA.

No, Your Honor.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

And if you say, it was

a suggestion. I mean, come on, let us not play around with words
here.
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, I just gave advice.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).


MR. PURISIMA.

Advice!

Yes, your Honor.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Do you know that by

also saying that, you also impliedly told him not to follow an
agreement?
General Napeas, did you inform the AHJAG of the police action?
Yes or no lang po.
MR. NAPEAS.

Yes, sir. I did inform the AHJAG in the

morning, in the person of Brigadier General Orense.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).
the

agreement

with

the

MILF

says

In the morning. When

prior

coordination.

Prior

coordination, not immediately when the operation starts. Are you


aware of that?
MR. NAPEAS.
THE

If I may, I read the provision of the

CHAIRMAN

(SEN.

GUINGONA).

Read

the

1997

agreement, it says prior coordination. If we want to be specific about


it, let us go to the agreement.
MR. NAPEAS.

It is not in the agreement, Your Honor. This is

the Revised Joint AFP-PNP


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

No, General, no, no. I

am talking of the agreement between the government and the MILF


that has been violated. Dont give me that internal memosno. I am
talking of the agreement.

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But anyway, while you are reading the agreement


General Purisima, what was really your role here?
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, initially, during the operations in

that area for the Terminator 2, I was still the Chief of the Philippine
National Police and I supervised the operation.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Let us talk about

Wolverine.
MR. PURISIMA.

Wolverine, Your Honor, is April 23

Wolverine 2 and Wolverine 3 is June


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Let us talk about

Mamasapano incident. What was your role there?


MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

What was your role

there?
MR. PURISIMA.

I have no role in that operation, Your Honor.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

So you were just

advising, giving suggestions. Am I correct?


MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, during the time that the Police

Director Napeas informed me that they already jumped off, that was
already in the morning.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

You mean, you also

did not know anything about it?


MR. PURISIMA.

I did not know that the PNP Special Action

Force, Your Honor, that they jumped off already.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).
MR. PURISIMA.

You did not know.

I did not know.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

So who knew?

Napeas by himself?
General Napeas, you by your lonesome knew about it? General
Espina, General Purisima did not know about it and you, by your
lonesome knew about it? I dont think that is very credible. I mean
I am sorry.
Go ahead, answer, General Napeas.
MR. NAPEAS.

On January 19, Your Honor, I received a text

message from General Purisima.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).
MR. NAPEAS.

From General Purisima.

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).


MR. NAPEAS.

From whom?

Go ahead.

If I may read it, Your Honor.

January 19, 2015. That is about 6:31 in the evening. Leo,


what is your plan? I responded, Sir, good pm. The plan for the

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operation is a go on the timeline which is January 23 to 26. The troops


will move from Zamboanga...
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

So General Purisima

knew about it beforehand because that is January 19. You received a


text from him.
MR. NAPEAS.

If I may finish the text message, Your Honor.

...The troops will move from Zamboanga to Central Mindanao


on January 21 to 22, 2015 while Intelligence will closely monitor the
situation en route to the entry. There is no problem in the target area
as of the moment. In the target area, preparations continue so the
troops are ready once situation in entry route is good. The warring
faction engaged and the entry of the Philippine Army is the factor
denying us safe entry, Sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Okay. Again, so who

ordered you to go into this operation on that day?


MR. NAPEAS.

As I have mentioned earlier, Your Honor, the

Terminator 1, Terminator 3
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Let us answer the

question. I am asking whoI am not talking about Terminator 1. We


are talking about Mamasapano incident, come on.
MR. NAPEAS.

Yes, sir, Your Honor.

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Its a continuing operation which was previously approved by


Police Director General Purisima while he was still then the chief, PNP,
on the Terminator 1, Your Honor. It is a continuing
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).
MR. NAPEAS.

When was that?

That was in November 29 of 2014, Your

Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

So who ordered you

on that date to go into the operations of the Mamasapano incident?


MR. NAPEAS.

There was no direct order for me, Your Honor,

but I based that decision to go based on the continuing operations that


we have done
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

So you decided by

yourself. I am not asking for your basis. I am asking you, who


decided?
MR. NAPEAS.

It is me who decided to go on that window,

January 23 to 26 based on the text message that I sent to Police


Director General Purisima, Your Honor.
General Purisima, do you confirm that you did not give any
orders on those dates?
MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor. I confirm that I did not give

any order for PNP-SAF to go on those dates of operation.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Okay. Let us go back

to the first question.


What was your motivation in giving the advice not to tell the
chief, PNP and not to tell the secretary of the DILG.? Tapos sabi mo pa,
Ako na ang bahala kay...ano po ang sinabi ninyo?...kay
Catapang. Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng Ako na ang bahala kay
Catapang? What was your motivation in doing this?
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, the plan of the PNP-SAF is to

inform everybody, time on target. And I was just following their plan,
Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Your were following

General, come on. You were following their plan by giving the
advice not to tell the chief, PNP and the secretary of the DILG?
Come on, General. Let us be reasonable here.
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, under Rule No. 4

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Naku, General, dont

give me rules. I am asking about your motivation, iyong nasa loob mo.
Bakit mo ginawa iyon?
MR. PURISIMA.

There is no motivation, Your Honor. That is

just following what was written in their plan that they will give the
information, time on target. And that included me, Your Honor.

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Madam Chair,

obviously, the response is not adequate.


You can read all the rules about your plans and everything. But I
am just asking about your motivation for saying that.
MR. PURISIMA.

There is no further motivation, Your Honor.

That is just what was written in the plan and I agreed with that plan,
Your Honor.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Well, I think it is

obvious to everyone that your answer is not acceptable


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

[Off-mike, Inaudible]

THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Yes.

General Purisima, the pre-

operations meetings were held in the white house where you are
supposed to reside. Is that correct?
MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

All right. So the pre-operations

meetings were held in the white house. This was after December 4,
2014.
MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

And December 4, 2014 was the

date you were suspended?

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MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

So you were holding meetings in

the White House notwithstanding the fact that you were already
suspended.
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, they were just updating me on

what was the progress of their operation.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.
MR. PURISIMA.

You mean

I did not give any instructions to them, Your

Honor.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

You did not participate in the

meetings?
MR. PURISIMA.

I participated. I listened to the meetings,

Your Honor.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

You participated by simply

listening.../mjp

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THE SENATE PRESIDENT.


MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.


MR. PURISIMA.

by simply listening.

You did not say anything.

Because in the updates of their plan, Your

Honor, I think that this is already correct.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Kaya nga.

You did not say

anything.
MR. PURISIMA.

No, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.


MR. PURISIMA.

How many meetings were there?

About two meetings, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

And how long did the meetings

last?
MR. PURISIMA.

Maybe 30 minutes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Thirty minutes.

So in those two

meetings, 30 minutes each, you just kept your mouth shut.


MR. PURISIMA.

I may have given observations, Your Honor,

but Im not very particular with what they will be doing.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.
MR. PURISIMA.

What observations were these?

The observation, Your Honor, is that they will

be moving on the time of their departure.

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THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

What

specifically

was

the

observation?
MR. PURISIMA.

The observation, Your Honor, is, they should

consider more on the time of their departures and their arrivals.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.
MR. PURISIMA.

Ganoon lang ang observation mo?

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

All right.

Pero sinabi mo rin na,

Huwag mo nang sabihin kay Espina at kay Roxasnot probably on


that occasion but in a previous occasion.
MR. PURISIMA.

Yes, Your Honor, but that was not given as an

order but as an advice.


THE SENATE PRESIDENT.
MR. PURISIMA.

Thats an advice.

Yes, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Okay.

In your hierarchy among

the military, whats the difference between an advice and a command?


Its difficult for me as a civilian to make a distinction. When it comes
with my commander, whether or not hebut the moment he opens his
mouth, thats a command, to me.
MR. PURISIMA.

Your Honor, a command should be followed;

an advice may not be followed.

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THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

I see.

Now, there were also

meetings in Camp Bagong Diwa. Is that correct?


MR. PURISIMA.

I am not privy to that meeting, Your Honor.

THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

Napeas, were there meetings in

Camp Bagong Diwa?


MR. NAPEAS.

Yes, Your Honor, at the Headquarters of the

Special Action Force where we did most of the mission and planning,
including in Zamboanga.
THE SENATE PRESIDENT.

I see.

Thank you.
I just wanted to supplement Senator Guingonas question.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Alam ninyo po, General

Purisima, mabuti naman at dumadalo kayo sa aming pagdinig kaya


lang po, naging kasaysayan na rin may mga kasagutan kasi na hindi
po nagkakatugma-tugma sa mga dapat na maging kasagutan dito.
Halimbawa na lang, iyong sinasabi nga ninyo, advice and command,
sabi ninyo iyong differencean advice doesnt necessarily have to be
followed. So my question would be, to you, Superintendent Napeas,
sinabi ba niya, O ito, payo lang ito, huh. Sinabi ba niya iyon? Payo
lang ito, huwag ninyo na munang sabihin kay Secretary Roxas o kay
General Espina.

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MR. NAPEAS.

Wala pong ganoon, Your Honor. Iyong nasabi

ko, iyon lang po ang statement, wala pong sinabi na iba.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So ang ibig sabihin po ay

puwede bang napagkamalan din po ninyo ito na isang order?


MR. NAPEAS.

Iyong sinabi ko, kinonsider (consider) ko iyong

statement na iyon, Your Honor, sa kadahilanan, iyong sitwasyon na


sinamahan po naminisinama kami ni General Purisima doon sa
Malacaang at nandoon si Police Senior Superintendent Mendez at
nagre-render kami, ako, ng mission update. At iyon ay sitwasyon na
sa aking pananaw at iyong kinonsider (consider) ko iyong sinabi nga
niya at naging judgment ko iyon na inpormahan si OIC PNP, Time on
target na po, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Opo. Pinapaalala ko lang

po sa inyoalam ko, nag-iingat din kayo dahil maraming nakasalalay


ditopero iyong sa sarili ninyo, lalung-lalo na kung katotohanan
naman ang inyong ipinapalabas, tatlumput anim na taon na serbisyo
na ibinigay ninyo, na binasa ninyo ang lahat ng inyong mga nagawa.
Hindi naman po matatawaran ang serbisyo na iyan. Pero dahil po dito
ay puwede pong grave misconduct at unprofessionalism sapagkat
suspendido po ang kausap ninyo. Ngayon, pinapaalala ko lang po iyan
dahil hindi naman para iangat ninyo ang sarili ninyo sa lahat ng inyong

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responsibilidadhindi

po.

Pinapaalala

ko

lang

po

na

ang

responsibilidad ngayon sa araw na ito siyempre ay ang katotohanan na


lumabas.
Gusto ko ring tanungin dahil inako na po ninyo halos lahat ng
responsibilidad dito.

Hindi naman kayo puwedeng sumalakay na

walang pera; hindi naman din kayo puwedeng sumalakay na walang


preparasyonmga baril, mga kagamitan.
baril na ginamit dito ay hindi basta-basta;

Ang dinig ko po, ang mga


magagandang klase, pati

iyong mga night vision goggles na ginamit. Tanong ko lang din po sa


inyo, saan po nanggaling ang pera, sino po ang nag-abot sa inyo, ano
pong opisina nanggaling iyan?
MR. NAPEAS.

Iyong pera po na ginamit sa operations na ito,

Your Honor, galing po sa Special Action Force.

Ang nag-provide ng

pera sa mga nagtrabaho na kapulisan po natin ay iyong aming


comptroller officer, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So magkano po lumalabas,

sa tingin ninyo ang gastusin?

Kasi kahit naman saan kayo pupunta,

mayroon kayong gagastusin.

Sa pagkakaalam ninyo, hindi man

kabuuan, parte man lang, magkano po?

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MR. NAPEAS.

Sa particular na operation na ito, Your Honor,

hindi bumababa sa 100,000.

Iyong mga nauna, mas marami dahil

doon sa preparasyon na mas matagal, Your Honor.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Gusto naming tawagin sa

susunod na pagdinig ang comptroller ninyo para malaman natin kung


saan nagmula iyan.

Kasi minsan, hindi ba, iyon ang pinakamabilis na

matugis natin kung saansa pagsusunod kung saan galing iyong pera
na iyan dahil imposibleng 100,000 lang iyan.

Marahil iyong mga

equipment kasi, matagal na ninyong nabili.


SEN. SOTTO. Isang F-4 lang iyang 100,000.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Kaya nga po.

Maaari

kasing iyong mga equipment na iyon matagal na sa kanila. Pero


mayroon bang pinanggalingan ang mga baril na iyan?

Iyan ba ay

galing lahat sa gobyerno natin?


MR. NAPEAS.

Iyong baril po na ginamit, gamit po ng Special

Action Force, Your Honor.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So ano pongito na lang

po, mayroon kasing napabalita at hindi naman ako nagtatanong.


Tama iyong sinabi ni Senator Gringo, marami ay galing sa news report,
so hindi natin masasabi dahil hindi naman ito sinumpaang salaysay.
Subalit mayroon daw isa doon sa Seaborne Command na kumuha ng

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video na nagsasabing mayroong parang drone. Ito bay napansin


ninyo? Ito bay alam ninyo?
MR. NAPEAS.

Doon sa pag-i-stay ko sa tactical command

post, Your Honor, wala akong nakita na drone na lumilipad doon sa


tactical command post. Iyong napabalita sa news na kinunan ng video
doon

mismo

sa

area,

katulad

ng

sinabi

ko

kanina,

that

is

approximately 10 to 11 kilometersnapakalayo po para makita ko.


Wala po akong nakita.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So you are about 10 to 11

kilometers away from where the drone was supposed to have been
flown.
MR. NAPEAS.

Ganoon nga po kalayo iyong sa area mismo at

saka iyong kinaroroonan ho ng tactical command post.


THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So kayo ngayonkasi

suspendido nga si General Purisima, kayo ang talagang namamahala


nitong buong operasyon na ito, hindi ba? Pero isa-submit mo sa akin
iyong intelligence packet ninyo, huh, iyong pagpaplano ninyo bago pa
man, sino po iyong mga point person.

Wala po bang nakikipag-

ugnayan sa inyo na ibang mga foreign authorities na binibigyan kayo


ng intelligence?

Hindi naman masama dahil mayroon naman tayong

cooperation, halimbawa.

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MR. NAPEAS.

Wala na po, Your Honor. Ang tumutulong sa

amin sa intelligence na ito po, iyong director ng intelligence na si Police


Senior Superintendent Mendez, kasama iyong kanyang assistance na si
Police Superintendent Monsalve. Siya po iyong laging kasama namin
pag nagmi-mission planning doon sa Camp Bagong Diwa ng Bicutan,
Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Sige po.

Siguro mas

tatanungin pa namin kayo tungkol diyan sa mga susunod na mga


katanungan.
Iyong susunod poSenator Guingona.
MR. ROXAS.

Madam Chair, Mr. Co-Chair.

THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Secretary Roxas.


THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Secretary Roxas.
MR. ROXAS.

Bago lang po malayo masyado doon, iyong sa

pag-submit ng intelligence packet, kung mamarapatin po ng Chairs at


saka mga senador, consistent po doon sa nasabi din ni Senador
Honasan, bagaman ako mismo hindi ko nakikita iyang intelligence
packet na iyan, pero maaari na may mga pangalan diyan at iba pang
mga impormasyon na maselan.

So siguro kung maaari, gumawa ng

isang procedure na maproteksyunan, either through redacting or

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through some mechanism na itong mga pangalan, tao, etcetera, ay


maproteksyunan po.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Duly noted po. Kung ano

po iyong mga puwedeng isumite, isumite pero siguro kung magreredact, bigyan ng option ang mga senador na tanungin kung ano ba
iyon.

Maybe at least verbally malaman namin kung ano iyong mga

tinanggal na iyon para mas maintindihan.


Senator Guingona.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

General Catapang, as

General Purisima said, Ako nang bahala kay Catapang, when were
you informed by General Purisima of the Mamasapano operations?
And what was the nature of the informationbrhg

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THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). And what was the


nature of the information, was it a suggestion?
MR.

CATAPANG.

We

were

informed

during

the

actual

operation, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). On the day itself?
MR. CATAPANG. Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

And what was the

nature of his information to you, sir?


MR. CATAPANG. Your Honor, I was being requested by General
Purisima to also help them because the SAF troops were being
harassed by enemy forces.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA).

Were you under the

impression that it was a suggestion, General Catapang?


MR. CATAPANG. No, Your Honor. It is a request that we have
to look into inasmuch as we do not want our SAF forces to be
beleaguered, thats why through General Guerrero we already initiated
the mechanism to ensure that the SAF forces will be extricated as soon
as possible.
THE CHAIRMAN (SEN. GUINGONA). Thank you.
Before my time runs out, I just like to point out here that parang
both sides have questions really the government.

On the larger

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picture, the government has violated the 1997 agreement where there
should be prior coordination with the MILF with regard to anti-criminal
activities in MILF areas. That was not followed. That will be my next
line of questioning. Why did they not follow the agreement?
On the other side naman, the question for the MILF really is, why
were there terrorists in their respective areas?
But I guess my time has run out and I will reserve it for round
two.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Thank

you,

Senator

Guingona.
Very quickly I would like to ask Superintendent Napeas.
Papaano po ninyo nalaman na si Marwan ay nanduon nga sa
Mamasapano?
MR. NAPEAS. Based doon sa intelligence packet na ibinigay
po sa aming
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So nabasa ninyo iyong

intelligence packet. Mabilis lang po.


Ang impormasyon ba na ito ay ibinigay ng isang indibidwal
Hindi ninyo na kailangang sabihin kung sinoindibidwal na tiga-roon o
isang informer?

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MR. NAPEAS.

Madam Chair, hindi po ako involved doon sa

intelligence portion nito.

Tactical unit po iyon. Ibinibigay sa tactical

unit iyong intelligence packet as to the verification kung nandoon iyong


target o wala. Wala po sa tactical unit po iyan, trabaho po ng
intelligence unit iyon, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). So iyong sinasabi ninyo na
nanduon sa intelligence, nabanggit ninyo iyong pangalan. Mendez ba?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor. It was given by Police Senior
Superintendent Mendez to Police Superintendent Train.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). So siya ang may alam?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Train knew about it.

Siya

iyong sa intelligence?
MR. NAPEAS.

No, Your Honor.

works with the PNP Special Action Force.

Police Superintendent Train


Siya po iyong intelligence

officer namin doon sa Zamboanga. Siya po ang tumanggap doon sa


intelligence packet na nanggaling kay Police Senior Superintendent
Mendez.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Siguro patatawag natin si

Superintendent Mendez sapagkat ito ba ay in-inform ng isang


indibidwal. Dahil hindi ba may mga binabanggit dito na reward money.

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Kasi gusto natin malaman indibidwal ba ang nagbigay nito, kung


lehitimo iyang indibidwal na iyan. At pangalawa, kung hindi indibidwal
at hindi naman ang military natin ang nakakaalam o kayo, ito ba ay
isang observer o foreign observer na nagbigay sa atin ng intelligence
report, na hindi rin naman masama. There should be cooperation in
order to find certain terrorists but we would just like to know kasi ang
pinapatong ng iba ay baka naman mga informer, informer lang pero
talagang wala namang informer.
natin.

So iyon lamang po.

Papatawag

So the Secretariat, please take note, we will call General

Mendez to be present in our next hearing.


Now, we will go to Senator Ejercito.
SEN. EJERCITO. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chief Superintendent Napeas, gusto ko lang ituloy iyong
concern ng ating Chair, iyong tungkol sa funding. Uulitin lang natin,
kanina

nasabi ninyo mga isang daang libo lamang ang inyong

ginastos. Well, siguro nabili na nga iyong mga kagamitan. Pero siguro
sa ganito kalaking operasyon, alam naman natin na this would entail
millions.
Gusto ko lang malaman, Chief Superintendent Napeas, ito ba
talagang sinabi ninyo ay nanggaling lang sa SAF funds, wala bang

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MR. NAPEAS.

Yes, Your Honor.

Ang sabi ko kanina hindi

bababa po sa 100,000 iyong ginasto namin.

In fact, iyong mga

previous operation umaabot ng 400,000 dahil mas matagal iyong pagstay ng tropa. Dito, sandali lang sila. Ito ay ginasto po namin doon sa
pagkain at saka iyong sa pagrerenta ng sasakyan, Your Honor.
SEN.

EJERCITO.

Pero

marami

pang

ano

itotulad

ng

pagpaplano, may mga intelligence work, syempre special equipment.


Hindi ba ito naisama doon sa pondong ito?

Wala ba kayong hiningi,

halimbawa, mula sa Anti-terrorism Council, sa PNP special fundwala


ho kayong kinuhang pondo roon?
MR. NAPEAS. Wala na po, Your Honor. Existing na po iyong
mga equipment.

Most of the equipment that we used are existing

already in our inventory, Your Honor.


SEN. EJERCITO.

Gusto lang din natin malinawan, kanina

nabanggit ninyo na nagkaroon ng parang brief encounter kasama ang


Pangulo sa PSG compound, kasama pa si General Purisima, to update
him doon sa mission at nabanggit ninyo rin kanina na although iyong
mismong operation day, iyong D-day, ay hindi ninyo idinayvulge
(divulge) iyong detalye ay nabanggit ninyo na na-inform ninyo rin ang
AFP noong 2014 yata, sometime in 2014, at ang iba pang opisyal
tungkol sa inyong misyon.

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So, again, ang sinasabi ninyo ba iyong para mawala iyong


leakage, para maiwasan ang leakage muli, ang sinasabi ninyo ba na
alam din po nila, ng ibat ibang ahensiya na nabanggit kanina, iyong
misyon na ito?
MR. NAPEAS. Itong misyon na ito alam ng AFP nung time on
target na, na inimpormahan namin.

Iyong pagdesisyon kung kailan

iyong actual day na i-go-go, Your Honor, mayroon kaming tinatawag


na window, iyong 23 to 26 na window.

In fact, hindi natuloy sa 23

iyon dahil iyong intelligence namin na nagkalat ng ipinadadala namin


doon sa lugar maraming masyado iyong activity ng MILF. Thats why
hindi itinuloy. Kaya nai-go ito ng 24. Kaya iyong exact date ng paggo-go ng operation, Your Honor, is dependent on the situation on the
ground. You cannot say na, Sa 23 i-go mo iyan. Hindi po eksakto.
It may be on the 23, 24, 25 or the 26, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO.

So Chief Superintendent Napeas, iyong go

signal mismo, ito ay isa sa mga mainit na issue, hindi ninyo po hinintay
sa higher ups iyan, kayo na mismo ang nag-decide na itutuloy na
iyong exodus?
MR. NAPEAS. Yes, Your Honor. Given the premise na sinabi
ko nga, ang window na ipinadala is 23 to 26, at any time of those

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dates ay pwede nang i-go ng isang commander on the ground, Your


Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO. Ang isa pang gusto nating matanong, Madam
Chair, kasi parang lumalabas kanina iyong medyo emotional ang
inyong

paglalahad

ng

ating

OIC,

Leonardo

Espina,

syempre

understandable dahil sa nangyari sa inyo pong mga tauhan. Para bang


ang sinasabi natin ay kung nakasuporta kaagad o nagpadala kaagad
ng artillery support at iba pang suporta ang AFP ay masasabi ninyo
bang maiiwasan o maiiba ang istorya?
MR. NAPEAS.

Nakita po natin iyong pagputok ng white

phosphorous ng alas singko kuwarentay otso ng hapon at doon mismo


si Superintendent Train na makapagsasabi mismo kung ano ang
naging reaksyon ng mga kalaban nang pagpatak nung tatlo na white
phosphorous at that time.
Sana po kung maimbitahan si Police Superintendent Train at siya
mismo maglahad ng kanyang salaysay kung ano ang naging reaksyon
ng mga umaatake sa kanila during that time, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO. Chief Superintendent Napeas, ang lumalabas
din kasi, ang sinabi ng AFP, una, kulang kayo sa coordination at may
pagtingin din doon sa peace agreement. Ngunit doon din sa dalawang
version, iyong una, sa PNP, iyong sa inyo pong report ay kayo po ay

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nag-contact na sa AFP, kay General Pangilinan yata, ngunit hindi raw


kayo nag-request ng reinforcements. Pero ayon naman doon saito
iyong Armyah, iyong sa AFP version pala. Iyong sa PNP version ang
sinsabi ninyo na pumunta si Police Superintendent Mangahis sa
Mechanized Brigade, 1st Mechanized Brigade sa Maguindanao, sa
Kapitolyo, Shariff Aguak to coordinate with Colonel Gener Del Rosario,
AFP Brigade Commander for reinforcement. Superintendent Mangahis
asked for indirect fire support but the same was not granted due to the
ongoing process.
Kinukonpirma ninyo ba ito? Ano po sa dalawa iyong tama?
MR. NAPEAS.

Nais kong sabihin, Your Honor, ang pumunta

doon sa brigade ay hindi lang si Superintendent Mangahis, si mismong


deputy director ng SAF, si Police Chief Superintendent Talio ang
pumunta doon sa brigade. /mpm

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MR. NAPEAS. ang pumunta doon sa brigade ay hindi lang si


Superintendent Mangahis, si mismong Deputy Director ng SAF, si
Police Chief Superintendent Talio ang pumunta doon sa brigade. At
nais kong basahin iyong text message ko na pupunta ka Chief
Superintendent Talio habang nandodoon siya.

Ito po ay naganap

nang mga bandang 7:53 in the morning ng petsa 25 ng January 2015.


Ang sinabi ko sa text message ko, Noli, location of SAF troops, grid
coordinate 6800665717 and 6823465056.

Nasa paligid ng first grid

coordinate mga kalaban and tuloy pa rin heavy firefight. Baka pwede
hingi artillery support.
Sinagot ako ni Chief Superintendent Noli Talio, Sir, as of now,
nega daw muna artillery at baka may mga CVs at mga bata.

Nag-

commit ng six armor at about 50 infantry.


Nag-text din ako papunta kay General Espina at saka kay
General Purisima, ganoon din ang contents niya, Sir, location of SAF
troops, GC 6800665717 and 6823465056, nasa paligid ng first grid
coordinate mga kalaban and tuloy pa rin heavy firefight. Na-pin down
tropa sa first grid coordinate at mayroong mga casualties sila. Baka
pwede hingi artillery support, sir.

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SEN. EJERCITO. Andito ba si Chief Superintendent Talio? Can


you, please, confirm iyong pangyayari at iyong inyong pagpunta at
paghingi ng suporta sa brigade at sa army.
MR. TALIO. Yes, Your Honor, Madam Chair. I am Police Chief
Superintendent Noli Talio.

Ako po iyong deputy director ni Police

Director Napeas noong nai-launch iyong Oplan Exodus.


Tama po iyong sinabi ni Director Napeas, at around 7:30,
nauna si Superintendent Mangahis doon sa 1st Mechanized Brigade to
request for reinforcement. And then tinawagan niya ako sa cellphone,
sabi niya Sir, baka gusto niyong makita iyong reinforcement plan ng
Mechanized Brigade?
So

immediately,

Mechanized Brigade.

I went to

the

headquarters of the

1st

Pagdating doon, si Colonel Gener del Rosario,

naabutan ko, nakikipag-usap kay division commander sa telepono. I


overheard him saying, Sir, baka gusto niyong kausapin si General
Talio?, sabi niya. Pero hindi na, maam, ako kinausap, hindi na, sir,
ako kinausap.

So immediately after that, sabi ko kay Colonel del

Rosario, Gener, baka pwede kaming maghingi ng artillery support?


Sabi niya, Sir, gusto kong ibigay sa inyo iyon pero as of now hindi
pumayag si division commander because of the peace process at may
mga civilian, may mga bata. Sabi niya.

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So anong pwede mong ibigay sa amin?


Sir, bibigyan ko kayo ng anim na armored vehicles with
infantry.
Very quickly, in fairness to Colonel del Rosario, na-organize
naman iyon, iyong anim na tangke at saka mga infantry, pasamahan
niyo lang ng sampung tao at saka iyong guide para makapag-link ka
doon sa advance command post ng PNP-SAF doon sa area.
So

directed

Superintendent

Mangahis

to

go

with

the

reinforcement from the 1st Mechanized Brigade at nakapag-link up sila


doon sa advance command post.
Iyon po ang nangyari doon, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO.

Ang isa pa kasing lumalabasgoing back,

Madam Chairdahil ang sabi rin, narinig ko si Chief of Staff Catapang


na, siyempre it would take time for them to organize kasi nga hindi
nila alam ito, dahil nga sa lack of coordination, dahil iyong kanyang
mga tao ay naka-deploy sa ibat-ibang lugar. Pero ang sabi rin niya
minsan, narinig ko rin, ayon sa report, there were about 300 SAF
personnel already, nandoon lamang sa area. Ito ba ay kasama sa inyo
pong operation? Ano po ang papel nila? Sila po ay blocking force o
talagang tagapag-secure lamang noong area para hindi magulo iyong
assault team?

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MR. NAPEAS. Iyong 300 na sobra pa, Your Honor, kasama po


sila doon sa containment force, security pag-withdraw and at the same
time blocking force dito sa kalsada.

At nasa looban nga po sila na

nakita natin doon sa iprenisenta kanina ni Director Magalong sa


screen, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO.

Ano po ang rason, Chief Superintendent

Napeas, bakit hindi na ho sila nakapag-saklolo o hindi nila nabigyan


ng reinforcement iyong na-pin down ng mga84th ba iyon o 55th,
iyon inyo pongitong blocking force niyo.
MR. NAPEAS. Habang sila ay papasok na sa kanilang lugar
iyong 45th, kasi iyong 55th nauunana-engage na iyong 55th, naengage na rin iyong 45th. Halos sabay-sabay sila na na-engage na at
pinipilit ng 45th at saka 42nd at saka 41st na mag-forward, pero dahil
sa malakas na masyado iyong volume of fire, hindi sila nakakapagforward, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO. Chief Superintendent Napeas, inaasahan ba
natin na ganito karami iyong volume of fire na ating makakasalubong?
Kasi I understand, nagkaroon din ako ng pagkakataon, nang madalaw
namin iyong mga wounded, na talagang iba daw, overwhelmingang
sinabi nila termino, Madam Chair, is overwhelming iyong volume of

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fire that they were receiving from the MILF and BIFF forces at
sophisticated din daw ang kanila pong mga kagamitan. Ito poy totoo?
MR. NAPEAS. Hindi natin po inaasahan na ganoon kadali sa
umagang iyon, Your Honor, kasi iyon naman mga MILF, hindi naman
sila nasa isang lugar, sa kampo na iyon, manggagaling sa ibat-ibang
lugar pa.

However, totoo nga po iyon na nangyari na grabe iyong

volume of fire na nanggagaling sa lugar nila, iyong pagkakataon na


iyon, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO.

Just two more points, Madam Chair.

Chief of Staff General Catapang, tanungin ko lang ho.

Kay

Kanina,

malinaw naman na wala naman daw order na stand down. Kumbaga,


it was your call or it was your officers call to give the support to the
beleaguered PNP-SAF personnel. So mga gaano katagal ho niyong naorganize bago unang naka-ayuda o nakatulong kaagad iyong inyo pong
ano. Sino iyong pinaka-unang tumulong sa inyo pong hanay?
MR. CATAPANG. Your Honor, naka-react po kaagad kami kasi
nandoon lang naman po iyong mga tropa. Malapit lang iyong 45th at
saka iyong Mechanized Brigade at saka iyong 601st

Brigade.

Ang

problema po kasi, pag humingi po kayo ng artillery fire, tatlo pong


bagay ang kailangan natin ma-klaronasaan ang kalaban, nasaan ang
tropa at dapat mayroong forward observer para sa ganoon, pag

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ibinagsak po iyong bomba ay alam natin ang tatamaan po ay iyong


mga kalaban.

Kasi po nagkaroon na rin po kami ng experience na

alam na nga po namin kalaban, alam na rin po namin kung saan iyong
mga tropa, nagkaroon pa po ng friendly fire. So hindi po kami kaagad
makabigay ng artillery fire because of those circumstances, Your
Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO. Naalala ko rin kasi, General Catapang, na in
one of the earlier interviews niyo noong nangyari itong incident, you
said that you wereparang, because of the peace process, the AFP
cannot lend support outright.

So ito ba ay kinonsidera niyo

considering that we have men in uniform already embattled and are


already dying in fact. So paano po ang naging call niyo noon noong
nalaman niyong beleaguered na, pinned down, doon na kayo nagdesisyon na while there is an ongoing peace talks ay kinakailangang
tulungan pa rin natin. Ano po ang nangyari?
MR. CATAPANG.

Your Honor, ang order po sa kanila is to

extricate the beleaguered forces but not to engage the MILF.


Inasmuch as we have a peace process, we do not want to endanger
these things because pag sinugod po natin iyong MILF, they might
think that we are back to war. So ayaw po nating mangyari iyon dahil
para pong sunog iyan, baka kung hindi po natin na-manage, baka

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hanggang sa Lanao, buong central Mindanao ay nagkaroon na po tayo


ng skirmishes with MILF.
SEN. EJERCITO.

Ang balita rin po, noong pumasok na iyong

CCCH, iyong Committee on Cessation of Hostilitiesmga anong oras


po ito, mga alas-dose yatanag-call na po raw sila ng ceasefire pero
ang balita ay tuloy pa rin daw ng fire, tuloy pa rin iyong heavy volume
of fire from the MILF doon sa ating mga beleaguered PNP-SAF
commandos.
Would the AFP Intel, sa inyo pong report, nabalitaan niyo rin po
ba ito na tuloy-tuloy pa rin in spite of the call?
Sige

po,

kayo

po.

General

Galvez,

kayo

po

yata

ang

representative.
MR. GALVEZ. Yes, Your Honor, Madam Chair,
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Sumumpa na po ba

kayo?/jun

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Sumumpa na po ba kayo?


MR. GALVEZ. Yes. Yes, Your Honor.
We have to understand the dynamics also and the social order
ng lugar na iyon dahil po kasi pagka talagang nagkaroon po ng
mainitan na gun battle, its not so easy to separate them especially
pagka marami pong casualties on both sides. It has been the culture
ng mga Muslim hindi nila puwedeng iwanan iyong mga patay nila. And
then pagka once nagkaroon po ng ganoong engkuwentro, talagang
madugo po talaga iyong engkuwentro which is what happened to the
firefight.
SEN. EJERCITO. Maraming salamat.
Siguro, last point, hindi ba na-consider, General Catapang, to
send air support kasi alam nyo sabi nga nila kapag sa engkuwentro
lamang iyong nasa mas mataas na position, iyong higher ground, di
ba, considering that the AFP is the only one that has those equipment,
siguro iyong persuasion flights could have played a big role in that
engagement. Siguradong makita lang, marinig iyong mga helicopter at
mga eroplano, alam na nila may bomba iyan kahit na hindi nyo ano,
eh. So, hindi nyo ba na-consider na paliparin yong mga air assets as
a support for our beleaguered SAF personnel.

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MR. CATAPANG. Madam Chair, Your Honor, we cannot do that


because first of all, there was no request for air support. And then, of
course, if we did provide air support, again, it will inflame the situation
because the MILF might think that we are attacking them already. So,
really, the most important thing was to set up the ceasefire
mechanism at that point in time, Your Honor.
SEN. EJERCITO.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

But just to

conclude, personally I think that this ongoing ceasefire or the standing


truce because of the ongoing peace agreement was just being used by
the MILF to strengthen their forces. Even the kind of weapons, Madam
Chair, the volume of the artillery and the volume of ammunition that
they have, I guess we just have to take note of that that hopefully that
the ongoing truce will not be used to fortify and strengthen their ranks.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Thank you, Senator Ejercito.
I would just like to, on the same note of what he was explaining
about, the other troops that were waiting outside, iyong mga naiwan
po sa SAF doon sa labas na hindi po nakapasok dahil nga sa bigat nga
ng laban din ng MILF, may nasaktan ba sa kanila? Iyon mga naiwan
sa labas.

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MR. NAPEAS.

Wala na pong na-wounded sa kanila, Your

Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Walang na-wounded.

So,

Hindi po totoo iyon, Your Honor.

At

ibig sabihin, they did not even try engaging?


MR. NAPEAS.

pinagpupumilit nila na pumasok doon sa lugar kasama iyong Division


Recon Company ng Army.

Iyon lamang at sobra lang talaga iyong

volume ng fire at saka open field iyong dadaanan kaya hindi sila
makapasok doon sa lugar para tulungan iyong 55th Company.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

So, wala din silang

natamaan sa MILF o kung BIFF o kung anong grupo?


MR. NAPEAS. Hindi po natin masisiguro, Your Honor, kasi ang
protection nila na pumuputok doon sa lugar ng MILF at saka BIFF,
kadalasan na pumuputok iyong armored personnel carrier ng Army at
saka sa PNP-SAF, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Siyempre hindi naman tayo
puwedeng magbilangan ng bala na ginamit, ano, pero kinukuha ko
lang po iyong inyong salaysay na sinasabi nyo nakipaglaban, na
sinubukan nila kaya lang talagang napakabigat.

Siyempre, dapat

naman iisipin din natin naiiwan natin iyong mga kasamahan natin sa
loob.

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Kaya ko tinatanong ito, mayroon bang nag-utos na mag-stand


down, number one; number two, na-accomplish na ba iyong mission
kaya hindi na talaga a hundred percent o hindi na talaga sumugal nang
paglusob ang mga natitira pa? Kasi tatlong-daan iyan, eh. Kahit na
papaano, kung lumaban iyan, mayroong mahahagip ng bala o
mayroong masisira o masasaktan.
doon sa mga naiwan sa labas.

Eh, parang wala namang report

Kaya hindi naman sa pagdududa sa

kagitingan ng ating mga kapulisan pero parang hindi talaga gumawa


nang dapat nilang gawin para matulungan iyong naiwan pa doon sa
loob.
Wala ba kayong video documentary niyan? Di ba sa giyera pag
may mga world war ano, mayroong kumukuha? Kayo ba wala?
MR. NAPEAS. Wala pa kaming video niyan, Your Honor, pero
dinig na dinig ko iyong command ng battalion commander na nandoon
sa advance command post through the radio na inuutusan niya to
move forward. Mag-base of fire iyong isa, iyong isang kumpanya magmove. However, nagko-comply sa akin iyong battalion commander na
hindi talaga nila kayang pumasok dahil iyong volume of fire na
nanggagaling doon sa kalaban at iyong open field na dadaanan ay
hindi nila kayang pasukin din.

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).


physically, hindi ba?

Pero wala rin kayo doon

You were about 11 kilometers away.

How far

were you?
MR. NAPEAS.

Yes.

Your Honor, I am 11 kilometers away.

Thats why sinasabi ko iyong account at saka iyong account ng


battalion commander mismo na nagbibigay ng report sa akin at
nagbibigay ng utos doon sa tropa na nandodoon sa ground.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Ano po ang ginagamit nyo
doon sa commander pag nakikipag-usap kayo?

Telepono ba o

mayroon kayong radyo? Ano ang ginagamit nyo?


MR. NAPEAS. Radyo po ang ginagamit nila doon sa ground,
Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).
isang

commander

ayIkaw

kasi

So, normal talaga iyon ng

iyong

overall,

ano,

diyan

sa

operations na iyan na ganoon talaga kalayo.


MR. NAPEAS. Opo. Ganoon po iyon. Iyong tactical command
post nasa malayo nang kaunti pero iyong advance command post, iyon
ang nasa immediate vicinity ng area of operation, Your Honor.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Sige po.
Alam nyo po, kailangan na tayong magtapos sa araw na ito pero
mayroon pa po tayong pagdinig bukas.

Ang mga nakadalo ngayon,

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hininiling namin pasensiya na po pero kailangan din kayong bumalik


bukas

sapagkat

marami

pa

pong

mga

senador

ang

hindi

Sotto,

may

nakakapagtanong.
SEN. SOTTO. Question.
THE

CHAIRPERSON

(SEN.

POE).

Senator

idadagdag po kayo?
SEN. SOTTO.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Is it necessary to have

Secretary Roxas, Secretary Gazmin and Secretary de Lima with us


tomorrow?
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

I was discussing that with

the Senate President and, yes, perhaps we can invite them back
tomorrow.
And for the recordYes, Secretary Roxas.
MR. ROXAS. Maam, were happy to come back, maam, except
that the Indonesian president is here.

There are some talks

particularly dealing with terrorism because we share a border with


Indonesia. We will try and find out what time those bilaterals are and
then come here immediately before or after, if that is all right with the
committee.

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THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).

Of course.

Actually,

Secretary, hearing is from 10:00 to about 2:45 so in between those


times will be sufficient.
MR. ROXAS. Yes, ma'am.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE).
need.

Just a recap of what we

Request by Senator Alan Cayetanoa partial incident report

from the MILF.


SEN. A. CAYETANO.

Madam Chair, can we reiterate our

invitation to the leadership of the MILF to be here and to be able to


discuss this issue jointly with them.

Mahirap na sa media tayo

nagpapalitan ng statements sa kanila. Kung sincere din talaga sila sa


peace, I think this would be a good venue for them, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes. And in fact, this was
also mentioned by the Senate President for Mr. Iqbal to please honor
the mandate of the Senate and be present here for the next hearing or
send a letter as to why he is not here.
We also would like to subpoena the text messages between the
PNP-SAF and the AFP.

This is a request by Senator Loren Legarda.

So, perhaps, for instance, the telcos would submit or you yourself
before we actually get it from the different telco companies.

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We would like to invite again Police Chief Superintendent Noel de


los Reyes, retired, regional commander of the PNP-ARMM by Senator
Escudero.
And then, we need the copies of warrants of arrest by the PNP.
This is a request by Senator Sotto.
We need the intelligence packet, PNP, by Senator Honasan, the
intelligence packet.

If certain confidential information needs to be

deducted, we will understand.


We need the operation plan from the PNP. This is my request.
And then, we would like to invite the PNP-SAF comptroller and in
charge of disbursement for the funds for this operation.
And then we would like to invite also Senior Superintendent
Mendez who apparently has given Chief Superintendent Napeas the
intelligence packet.
SEN. MARCOS. Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Yes.
SEN. MARCOS. I would like to remind the chair that I wrote a
letter to the chairman in which I asked that we request the following
documents from PNP-SAF copies of the oplans as have been mentioned
specifically Wolverine but also all the other oplans. . . (nam)

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SEN. MARCOS. but also all the other oplans that have been
shown in the all of the oplans for the missions or operations against
Marwan, the approval sheet of the operation, so that we know, again,
how the chain of command functioned, the intelligence package, the
PNP-SAF after operations report and the communication net annex
which is, again, this might fall under the classified but as much as
possible we request that they be provided.
And wed like to request also to issue the subpoena for the
following personalities: this is in my letter--team leader of 84th Special
Action Company, the assistant team leader of 84th Special Action
Company and PO2 Christopher Lalan, the sole survivor. I would like to
reiterate my request that I gave to the Committee last week, Madam
Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Duly noted, Senator Marcos.
Secretary Roxas.
MR. ROXAS. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, I wonder if Senator Marcos would consider instead
of submitting the particular previous oplans, a briefing instead. This is
the concern, if I may, Madam Chair. Even if these oplans were aborted
or did not continue, the reason for its noncontinuance is important
information to the hostiles. They will know what our limitations are

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why these missions were aborted. So to make them a public record


might be revealing both the strengths and weaknesses of these units
that operate in these areas. So we would be happy to give a briefing.
We will arrange a briefing by the SAF. We do not know the specifics of
this but we can direct the SAF to give specific briefing for each one of
these oplans, being mindful that every time we explain why it did not
happen, then we are revealing what our weaknesses are.
SEN. MARCOS. Madam Chair, I am talking about the PNP
operations against Marwan which were included in the PNP-SAF report.
And General Napeas already mentioned that Oplan Wolverine 2 of
March 2014 was aborted because the AFP withdrew fire support; Oplan
Terminator on November 2, 2014 was aborted because of equipment
failure; Oplan Terminator 2 of December 2014 was aborted because
they were engaged by the enemy before they were able to arrive at
their target area. So the reasons for those missions not being carried
out have actually already been outlined by Police Director Napeas.
But I fully agree that we do not want to put anyone in peril. What my
focus is, its not so much on the tactical side of it. What I am
interested in is more on the command and control as to the evolution
of these plans and again, that is why I am asking for the approval
sheet is who signed off on these plans to make very, very clear at the

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go/no go point; who gave the Go, Go order; and then also, this is in
accordance with the coordination with the AHJAG and the CCCH of both
the MILF and the republic.
So I do not think that any of those are classified. I will be happy
to have a briefing by any of the officers who are able to give that
briefing but as you can well imagine, my concern here is more about
command and control and the coordination. Because we hear from the
first response of the MILF after this was reported was that the SAF did
not coordinate and the military did not coordinate with the MILF. And
that we have to study that very, very closely. We are in the midst of
hearings on the BBL and the Bangsamoro Basic Law must contain all
the safeguards so that we can guarantee that this does not happen
again. The only way to know that is to find out, to ferret out what
happened kayat hindi nagkaroon ng coordination between the two
sides and that is what I am after. Not so much the operational details.
So the operational security is something that I understand very clearly.
I do not want to cause any problems or to reveal any of our SOPs. In
fact, todays hearing already made me very uncomfortable. And that
we were talking about details that we really should not, in my view,
maybe we should not have talked about in public. But anyway, there it
is.

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So, I am mindful of that. But again, it is my request that thisor


perhaps to modify my request. Hindi na lang Siguro. There are 10
operations here that are outlined. Perhaps Operation Exodus na lang.
Oplan Exodus, siguro iyon na lang muna. Maybe we can start with
that.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Duly noted, Senator Marcos.
I would just like to remind also our colleagues here in the
Senate. If you feel that there are certain information that need not be
divulged, please feel free to forewarn us ahead of time and then we
can deliberate on it.
For tomorrow, our hearing starts again at 10 in the morning. And
then the first senator to ask the question is Senator Drilon; followed by
Senator Binaybut I think she deferred and gave her slot to Senator
Honasan. I am not sure if shell still have the same mindset tomorrow- Senator Marcos; Senator Recto; Aquino; Pimentel; Cayetano, Alan;
Villar; Pia Cayetano; Senator Loren Legarda; Senator Angara Senator
Osmea; and then Senator Revilla--his questions will be read.
So, for now, we will call for
SEN. LEGARDA. Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Senator Legarda.

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SEN. LEGARDA.

Yes. Just to clarify. The request for the

transcript of the conversations between General Purisima and General


Napeas will be contained in their cell. Just in the event that it has
been deleted, we can request that from the telcos and the NBI can
conduct a forensic of this. That is so important because so many
questions among our colleagues was whether it was an order, how it
was. And another would be the communication between General
Napeas and General Catapang or is it General Pangilinan. So that we
will know the exact time and the manner in which the request was
made for cover or for assistance.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). You need the text messages
of which individuals? Can you mention again?
SEN.

LEGARDA.

Purisima-Napeas,

Napeas-Pangilinan

including Catapang. In fact, all texts and calls within the area of
operation from 2:00 a.m. of January 25 to 11:00 p.m. of January 25.
And the NBI can do a forensic authentication of those messages.
Thank you.
THE CHAIRPERSON (SEN. POE). Noted. Thank you.
So for now, our meeting is suspended until tomorrow at 10:00
a.m.

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[THE HEARING WAS SUSPENDED AT 2:50 P.M.]

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