MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Franklin Drilon on Tuesday appealed for the public to wait for the result of the report of the Philippine National Police's (PNP) Board of Inquiry (BOI) on the Mamasapano incident.
In an interview, Drilon said he understood where the president was coming from during his speech yesterday at the interfaith prayer event at the Palace grounds.
"The president was involved here. I can understand his speech. But if we will wait for the report, it will be more comprehensive," the Senate president said.
During his speech, President Aquino blamed the sacked Special Forces Action head Getulio Napeñas Jr. for the operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last January 29, noting he was misinformed by the SAF chief.
During the Mamasapano operation, 44 SAF troopers tasked to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, were killed after being pinned down and overrun by Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters.
Drilon said that resigned PNP Director General Alan Purisima has perhaps some vital information on the Mamasapano operation he would like to keep to himself after he refused to be interviewed by the BOI panel.
"Maybe he has something to hide. I do not really know," Drilon said.
He added that he thinks that the phone conversations and text messages between Purisima those involved in the Mamasapano operations are no longer needed by the Senate panel.
"Personally though, we do not need them. What we have is already sufficient for the purpose of making the report and arriving at the real conclusions," Drilon said.
Philstar
