Senate to forgo PNoy-Purisima text messages for the meantime

The Senate will forgo for the meantime its efforts to secure a copy of the text messages between President Benigno Aquino III and resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima regarding the January 25 Mamasapano clash.

Senator Grace Poe said Monday said they will instead focus on other evidence her committee has gathered rather than pursue the text messages after Purisima refused to authorize the release of the messages.

“Even if we subpoena it, they will always have the recourse to ask the courts to intervene,” said Poe, who heads the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs that investigated the infamous Mamasapano clash.

The text messages between Aquino and Purisima are expected to give a clearer picture on who was taking the reins of the police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, last January 25 to arrest two high-profile terrorist targets.

The operation, dubbed Oplan Exodus, led to a clash with Moro rebels in the area, resulting in the deaths of over 60 people, including 44 policemen.

Poe, during Monday's interview, said information obtained through illegal means could not be used.

“Even if we issue a subpoena for those phone records, without the approval of the account holder or the subscriber, the company or the telcos can ask for the intervention of the courts,” she said.

The Senate has issued a subpoena on the text messages between Aquino and Purisima, but the telecommunication company said it is incapable of tracking the messages and would need a court order to release it only the log details.

Asked if she has already given up on securing the text messages, Poe said she has not.

“Hindi naman sa give-up. Ang gusto lang namin, maglabas na rin ng report without prejudice to the other fact-finding boards. So if we feel that at a certain point we can still continue to pursue this, if we feel that at that point na na-release na ang phone records and it will show a different scenario from what we have submitted, we will correct our report,” she said.

“We will update [our report] to include any other factual evidence that we can use to augment the report that we submit,” Poe added. “But in the meantime, there are matters there that are already conclusive, which we can already submit to you so the Ombudsman has something to work with, the public has something to analyze.”

Poe earlier said that she will submit the committee report to committee members on March 17 for their approval. She expects bring the report to the plenary in May.

Purisima had submitted to the Senate a supposed copy of the text message exchange, but Senator Loren Legarda still requested for a full transcript for verification purposes. —KBK, GMA News