P-Noy must attend probe, lawmakers insist

MANILA, Philippines - Opposition and administration lawmakers yesterday continued to press for President Aquino’s appearance before the House of Representatives inquiry into the Mamasapano massacre.

The congressmen said Aquino’s testimony would “complete the picture” of the circumstances behind the incident that led to the killing of 44 policemen, 18 Moro rebels and several civilians.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said Malacañang has been disputing certain conclusions of the reports of both the Senate and the Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry (BOI), particularly on the accountability of the President and PNP officials.

“There’s now a chance for the President to attend and give his side on April 7 and 8 and complete the story, because Malacañang has been saying the reports of the BOI and the Senate are incomplete,” Nograles said in referring to the scheduled resumption of the joint inquiry of the House committees on public order and safety, and on peace, reconciliation and unity.

The move to summon Aquino was first raised by Youth Against Corruption party-list Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez.

Nograles said the inquiry could also result in legislation that would define the chain of command or put up a new system of accountability in the PNP.

He said former President Fidel Ramos has insisted that a chain of command exists in the PNP through an executive order he had signed.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, however, said the EO was no longer in effect.

The House investigation will also aid in the prosecution of cases against officials involved in the Mamasapano operation, including former PNP chief Alan Purisima and relieved Special Action Force (SAF) chief Director Getulio Napeñas.

“If the President testifies, we’ll find out really if the two (Napeñas and Purisima) are criminally liable, civilly liable or administratively liable,” Nograles said.

He said the hearings in the incident will also impact on deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) scheduled to resume in May.

He said Aquino may choose to send a written or video deposition to the two committees or send a representative, whose statements will be attributed to the President.

However, a deposition or statements of a representative may not cover issues raised by lawmakers during the investigation, Nograles pointed out.

“It really depends on him (Aquino what to do) but what’s on my mind is the complaint of Malacañang that the President was not given a chance to explain,” Nograles said.

He stressed the congressional inquiry was primarily in aid of legislation.

“I think sending an invitation is enough. If he really does not want to attend or send a representative, that should be the end of it. Let’s give the President due respect if he does not want to talk,” he said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares warned that if Aquino refuses to face the House inquiry, his credibility will continue to plunge.

“He owes it to the Filipino people, his bosses no less, 80 percent of whom are not satisfied with his explanations on the incident,” Colmenares said.

“A House Mamasapano probe without Aquino’s attendance would also be incomplete like that of the Board of Inquiry and the Senate investigations and may further anger the Filipino people. Who knows the 80 percent may climb to 100 percent if he does not attend,” he said.

Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, chairman of the peace and order panel, said calls to summon Aquino must be formalized through a motion and be put to a vote.

Ferrer said there was a similar motion made in the first House hearing on the incident last February but was defeated in the voting.

‘No grandstanding’

The joint inquiry was able to hold only one hearing because of the raucousness of the proceedings, which Ferrer vowed will not be repeated.

He noted the two panels have only two days to conduct hearings as Congress is on Lenten break.

Ferrer said copies of the BOI report have been distributed to members in a bid to stop them from asking questions that can be answered by the documents on hand.

He said he will call for a meeting before the scheduled hearings to reiterate the ground rules for the conduct of inquiry, including strict observance of the time allotted for each lawmaker asking questions.

“There are 60 lawmakers lined up to ask questions but their questions could be the same, so hopefully the others will back out,” Ferrer said.

Over a hundred lawmakers have reiterated their call for the House leadership to resume the congressional inquiry into the Mamasapano incident.

A letter addressed to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., signed by 120 of the 285 members of the House, reiterated the call for the hearings to resume.

They said their constituents were not satisfied with the reports of the incident made by the Senate and the BOI.

Malacañang, however, believes the 120 signatures of congressmen seeking to resume inquiry into Mamasapano is not at all an indication of dwindling support from President Aquino’s allies in Congress.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said they are still confident that Aquino enjoys the support of the House.

Coloma said they are awaiting developments in the House about its plan to invite Aquino to attend their investigation on the Mamasapano incident.

Coloma stressed Aquino is “open to cooperating” by providing whatever information the House may need, citing the Senate letter urging the President to release the transcript of his text messages to Purisima.

“The President, through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, consented to the Senate in giving his text messages to Purisima. That is his overall mindset to give information whenever it is needed,” he said.

Belmonte on Saturday thumbed down suggestions for the House to invite the President to its hearings on the Mamasapano incident.

Belmonte said the House has no intention of inviting the President for a congressional inquiry but would welcome any information he would give.

Belmonte said three committees have heard the testimonies of key players in Mamasapano, adding the April 7 and 8 hearings are “just to wrap up.” – With Delon Porcalla