Napeñas accuses Aquino of evading responsibility in Mamasapano fiasco

The direct overseer of Oplan Exodus on Friday accused former President Benigno Aquino III of shirking from responsibility after more than 60 people, including 44 police commandos, died in the ill-fated operation to neutralize international terrorists in Mamasapano two years ago.

Former PNP Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas Jr. made the remark after Aquino insisted on Thursday that he ordered Napeñas to coordinate the operation with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Aquino, in turn, released the statement after President Rodrido Duterte criticized the former President's handling of the Mamasapano incident earlier this week.

"Siya ang nag-approve ng operation plan. Ang inutusan niya na mamahala ng operation ay si Gen. Purisima na suspendido," Napeñas said in a report by Lei Alvis on 24 Oras on Friday evening.

"Sana ang mga pangulo natin ay katulad ng pangulo ngayon na kung inutos niya, desisyon niya, inapprove niya, tinatayuan niya... Pero yung nakaraan eh hindi ganoon eh. Iiwas siya at isisisi sa iba." Napeñas said.

The retired police officer recalled his meeting with Aquino on January 9, 2015 at Bahay Pangarap.

He said he told the then President about the plan to coordinate with the military at "time on target" or when SAF team was already in the target area.

Napeñas said Aquino did not respond.

In a statement, Aquino put the blame on Napeñas, emphasizing that if the police officer followed his instructions to coordinate with the military, the Mamasapano incident would not have happened.

Napeñas, meanwhile, hopes that the truth will prevail through the fact-finding commission Duterte would form.

The Sandiganbayan on Friday raffled off the cases filed against Napeñas and former PNP chief Alan Purisima, who are facing graft in connection with the botched operartion.

The SAF commandos during the operation killed international terrorist Zulkifli Bin-Hir alias Marwan but were ambushed by armed men, including members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as they were moving out of the area.

The MILF, with whom the government has an existing peace agreement, also bewailed the lack of coordination from the PNP.

The involvement of the MILF in the carnage has been widely blamed for the non-passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that was then pending in Congress.

The BBL, the embodiment of the GPH-MILF peace agreement, would have created a new autonomous entity in Mindanao for the Bangsamoro. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB, GMA News