Military photo shows Napeñas smiling hours after Mamasapano clash

The military on Wednesday pinned the blame on former Special Action Force (SAF) commander, retired police director Getulio Napeñas, for the deaths of 44 of his men during the infamous Mamasapano clash of 2015.

During the reopening of the Senate investigation on the encounter, Maj. Gen. Angelito de Leon, the military's deputy chief of staff for operations, showed through a PowerPoint presentation a picture of a smiling Napeñas still in civilian clothes.

The picture was taken at 4:14 p.m. on January 25, 2015, or hours after the bloody encounter, at the headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Brigade.

AFP photo allegedly showing that at even Napeñas was unaware of what happened to SAF44 in the afternoon of Jan 25. pic.twitter.com/KddenjFVjo

— sandra aguinaldo (@sandraguinaldo) January 27, 2016

“Here, Director Napeñas and party were still in civilian attire and can even afford to smile inspite of the dire situation faced by his troops in the encounter site,” De Leon said.

'I wasn't smiling'

In an interview on QRT, Napeñas denied that he was smiling in the photo and explained why he was wearing civilian clothes that day.

"Yung picture na ipinakita na naka-civilian kami, totoo 'yun na naka-civilian kami. Pero hindi ako nakangiti. Nagsasalita ako at may ini-explain ako," he told anchor Jiggy Manicad.

He also said he was in civilian clothes for "operational security," noting how sensitive their mission in Mamasapano was.

"Nakasibilyan kami dahil nakasakay kami lahat ng civilian vehicles dahil paisa-isa 'yung pagpasok namin doon sa police provincial office ng Maguindanao," he said. "[Naka-civilian kami] para 'di maka-attract ng attention ng mga nakatira doon mismo sa loob na meron plano na namang operation ang Special Action Force."

Detached from reality

In his presentation, De Leon said Napeñas seemed "detached from the reality of the SAF operation" and "unaware of the magnitude of the SAF casualties."

He also said the former SAF commander "lacks grasp of the gravity of the situation" on the ground and seemed to have "no intention to lead from the front."

“This [photo] further shows that the SAF leadership does not have a full grasp of the gravity of the situation all throughout the 11 hours since the start of the encounter,” De Leon said.

“It can also be ascertained that being in a civilian attire, director Napeñas has no intention of to lead the front, to see the battlefield,” de Leon added.

De Leon further said that Napeñas did not seem to have the sense of urgency in conveying information to the military in conneciton with his request for reinforcements.

“There was no sense of urgency on the part of General Napeñas in conveying critical information on the condition of the engaged SAF troops,” de Leon said.

"Napeñas blamed everyone except himself," De Leon said.

AFP always willing to help

The military, which is being blamed for its alleged late support to the embattled SAF troops, also showed a video showing SAF troopers virtually on standby on a remote highway in Mamasapano.

"The SAF troops pre-positioned in the highway were a significant force that could have provided immediate reinforcement. As why they did not do so remains to be a question that has to be answered by General Napeñas,” de Leon said.

To end his presentation, De Leon maintained that the AFP is always “ready” and "willing" to help.

"However, a commander's action, in a developing situation, is only as good as the information he receives," he said

De Leon said the troops on standby were significant in number and could've provided the much needed reinforcement.

"The SAF troops prepositioned on the highway was a significant force that could've provided immediate reinforcement," De Leon said.

"As to why they did not do so remains a question that has to be answered by Police Director Napeñas."  —with Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK/APG, GMA News