BAYAN MUNA CALLS FOR THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF PURISIMA, AQUINO AND U.S. HANDS ON THE BLOODY MAMASAPANO POLICE FIASCO

As reports linking US operatives to Mamasapano incident surface

Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate today said that as reports linking US operatives on the botched operation in Mamasapano are surfacing left and right thus it is imperative that a thorough investigation be launched by Congress to get to the truth.

President Aquino’s not admitting until now his responsibility, not telling the whole truth and passing the blame of the most bloody police fiasco to the commander of SAF is unacceptable and reprehensible. It is a vain attempt to hide the whole truth, especially his, Purisima’s and the US’ role in the botched operation to escape accountability.

As it is, newspaper reports say that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and ranking Filipino police officials planned a secret operation aimed at getting a notorious international terrorist, a source who declined to be identified told the Inquirer.

The source said the target was on Washington’s list of priority terrorists: Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” who had a $5-million price then on his head. The bounty was later raised to $6 million.

Based on the reports, a former ranking police official in Central Mindanao, claimed that during the meeting, which he attended, the FBI agents shared an intelligence report on the exact whereabouts of Marwan and another terrorist, Filipino Abdul Basit Usman.

The source said the Americans were certain about their intelligence data because it was provided by a mole from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“They were paid cash in exchange for the information,” the source said.

The source said the FBI agents validated the information relayed to them by their mole through the use of “drones and global positioning system.“We can even see the hideout of their target,” he said.

During the meeting, it was decided that those involved in the operation would not share information with any other government agencies “to prevent a leak of the plan. They will only coordinate with other government troops—posted along the highway—on their way to their mission,” he added.

“Ito ang nakakalungkot dito ang US ang nagplano at ipinahamak ang mga SAF. Matapos ibala sa kanyon ang mga SAF pa ang may kasalanan sa pagkasawi nila,” said Rep. Colmenares

“This is one of our fears when the Philippines entered the Visiting Forces Agreements (VFA) and now the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) we are dragged into their fights and battle plans under the heading Target of US enemies. Filipinos are the ones dying for the US to get what they want. Worse because we are now seen as part of US military operations against its enemies, we also become a target of attacks by the enemies of the US. This should really be investigated and adds to the numerous reasons why these treaties should be junked,” added Senior Deputy Minority Leader Colmenares.

“Malala pa ay Si Pres. Aquino ay naghuhugas kamay at hindi ipinaliwanag kung bakit di pinaalam ang operasyon sa DILG Secretary at PNP chief. Ito ay patunay na totoo nga na si Gen.Purisima ang nagcommand ng operations.May pananagutan si Pres. Aquino sa ginawa nyang pag utos sa operasyon at pagdefy sa order ng Ombudsman na suspendido si Purisima at sa talumpati pa niya ngayon ay lalo lang nagalit sa kanya ang mga kamag-anak at kaibigan ng mga nasawi maging ang sambayanang Filipino,” he added.

“As for his part Rep. Zarate said that “even as other government agencies will conduct their own probes of the incident, Congress must also conduct a thorough investigation, since it appears that there was breakdown in the established mechanisms agreed upon by the GPH and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as well as to see the veracity of reports that US agents or troops were also in the area after the incident,”

“There are more questions now than when this was exposed. As for example, if SAF commander keep on insisting that Operation Wolverine is very much alike the US operation to get Osama bin Laden then he has already admitted that this botched operation has US backing, support and participation. Another question is how are we certain that the US agents seen in the evacuation of the dead and wounded SAF did not take the supposed body of Marwan or his cut finger for them to test for his DNA? These are just few of the questions that have to be answered for us to get to the truth,” ended Rep. Zarate. ###