MANILA, March 14 (PNA) — Malacanang said it hopes that with the release of the police’s Board of Inquiry report, law enforcement agencies and the military could effectively conduct operations against terrorist organizations and avoid the repeat of the deadly Mamasapano clash two months ago.
“One of the effects of this BOI report should be to make everyone in the civilian establishment, in the military and security establishment, to make us all very aware of the consequences of lack of coordination when it comes to sensitive operations like the one that happened in January 25,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview on Saturday.
Valte also highlighted during the radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan the importance of proper coordination between the police and military, particularly with regards to sensitive operations like the Mamasapano raid.
Even during the Senate hearings, Gen. Carlito Galvez of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities noted that the bloody clash could have been avoided if the police Special Action Force commandos made proper coordination and followed appropriate protocols, Valte said.
The Philippine National Police’s BOI report also cleared President Aquino from any liability because as the head of the police and the military, he has the prerogative whom to give his orders, Valte said.
It is also clear in the BOI report that the President ordered the police officials overseeing the operation to coordinate their efforts with the military to provide the SAF raiding team appropriate cover and backup.
“At malinaw din naman po doon sa mga naging findings ng BOI report na sinuway po ni SAF Commander Napeñas ‘yung mga utos ng Pangulong Aquino,” Valte said.
In legal terms, Valte said it is called “proximate cause,” in which an outcome is traced to the most direct factor causing the end result.
“At kung bubusisiin mo ang mga nakalagay doon sa BOI ay makikita na talagang lack of coordination ang naging problema sa buong operasyon na ito,” she said.
A total of 44 SAF commandos died in the bloody Mamasapano encounter last January 25 after a fierce firefight with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and other armed groups. (PNA)