EDITORIAL - No more delays

Loose lips nearly sank the ship, but President Aquino has since moved to mend the damage caused by his imprudent disclosure of supposedly new information that could alter the narrative on the Jan. 25 police commando raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

The “alternative” version of events, fed by a source who was not identified by the President, should have been treated as raw information, with all the caution and secrecy required in handling something that has not been verified.

Not surprisingly, his remarks, which cast doubt on the role of the Special Action Force in neutralizing Jemaah Islamiyah bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, a.k.a. Marwan, revived resentment within police ranks about the President’s lack of appreciation for the steep price that was paid by the SAF to get one of the world’s most wanted terrorists.

Now that the President has scrambled to put out the fire that he himself started, he can tell his officials to speed up the investigation of those responsible for the carnage that left 44 SAF commandos dead. The Senate probe of the raid had described the SAF 44 as victims of murder.

The President has said that about 90 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, its purported breakaway faction the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and a private armed group would be prosecuted for the deaths of the SAF 44. The police commandos were not only killed in an exchange of fire that lasted from early morning until late afternoon, but were also mutilated and their bodies looted.

It’s been eight months since the SAF 44 were slaughtered. Now that the President has set aside what he described as an alternative version of the attack, the effort to give justice to the fallen commandos should proceed without further delay.