Wheels of justice turn

Establishing the Americans’ presence in the mission would be indicting on Noynoy’s involvement since Oplan ‘Exodus’ would be proven to be a US government initiative.

Exacting what the law demands for the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troops slaughtered in the infamous Oplan “Exodus” that targeted Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan has been an ordeal for relatives of the victims. However, a recent turn of events brings new hope.

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who spilt the beans on the “ninja cops” and along with it the alleged involvement of resigned Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, has offered new evidence that will pin down the trio of former President Noynoy Aquino, dismissed PNP chief Alan Purisima and erstwhile SAF commander Getulio Napeñas.

Magalong and the SAF 44 relatives sought the revival of the reckless impudence resulting to multiple homicide charge, which was the original complaint filed by the SAF 44 relatives and the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).

The trampling of the quest for justice for the SAF 44 started with selective justice sentinel retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales filing inoculation complaints of graft and usurpation of authority against the three officials.

The charges carry penalties, which are equivalent to a slap on the wrist, which also effectively precluded the filing of more serious allegations and at the same time prevented the reopening of the public hearings in Congress.

If convicted, the most that the trio are looking at is a six-month detention and a miniscule fine in contrast to the VACC case that will possibly impose on them cumulative jail time of more than 500 years.

Noynoy loathes being pilloried in public, but he needed to account for deeds during his presidency that harmed public welfare.

The demand for accountability is loudest in his miscues in the Mamasapano tragedy, the Disbursement Acceleration Program scandal and the plunder of public funds in the purchase of the Dengvaxia vaccine.

Recent actions of the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan resulted in the dismissal of Morales’ ridiculous charges and are expected to pave the way for the reopening of the case now, with additional evidence supplied by Magalong, who was head of the PNP Board of Inquiry (BoI) that probed the incident.

Both the BoI and the Senate reports on the Mamasapano debacle pointed to Aquino’s indirect accountability due to command responsibility.

An unexplored version of the tragedy was that the military was prevented from launching the pivotal artillery support due to Noynoy and then peace adviser Ging Deles’ intervention to stop a military rescue, since such would imperil an existing ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under the Bangsamoro deal.

Noynoy also avoided facing any probe body over the incident.

President Rody Duterte was unequivocal in his pledge to the relatives of the slain policemen that justice will be rendered.

Rody also assailed Morales for dragging her feet in filing a case against Noynoy.

Solicitor General Jose Calida has argued that Aquino had full knowledge of Oplan “Exodus” and his subsequent approval of the operation made him liable for negligence, “which was the direct proximate cause in the massacre of SAF 44.”

Final closure will also mean the unveiling of other enigmas, including the supposed involvement of foreign troops who are hot on the trail of Marwan.

The BoI report, which was the basis of the new information supplied by Magalong, looked into the “Caucasian-looking troopers,” but it reported that some were actually Filipino policemen with mixed blood.

Establishing the Americans’ presence in the mission would be indicting on Noynoy’s involvement since Oplan “Exodus” would be proven to be a US government initiative that is impossible to launch without the knowledge of Noynoy. It will also be in violation of the Constitution that restricts the presence of foreign forces.

In both the Senate and BoI investigations, there were no denying that Americans were present in the command center.

Also caught on video was the arrival of American choppers near the battlefield that later were found to have retrieved cadavers presumably of dead operatives.

Marwan was also in the most wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as he was suspected to have carried out the Bali, Indonesia bombing in 2002 that killed several western tourists.

FBI agents were immediately seen in Mindanao after the mission to recover the finger of Marwan that was used to establish his identify through a DNA test.

Also, during the investigations, it was also revealed that one of the six unidentified Americans who was in the mission room tried to issue orders to the military for artillery support that supposedly angered then 6th Infantry Division commander Maj. General Edmundo Pangilinan.

“One of the Americans ordered Pangilinan to fire the artillery. However, Pangilinan refused and told him, ‘Do not dictate to me what to do. I am the commander here!’” the Senate report on the incident stated.

If the presence of the Americans is proven, Noynoy would also have to face treason charges for consorting with foreign forces.

The journey for closure on the Mamasapano tragedy has been long but retribution is inevitable.