Palace says P-Noy is ‘hands off’ in Mamasapano investigations

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. (Photo by Robert Viñas/Rodolfo Manabat/Malacanang Photo Bureau)

MANILA – Malacañang Palace stressed yesterday that President Aquino has no involvement with the investigations into the bungled Mamasapano operations, and that there is no ongoing cover-up of the probe into the tragedy.

“The President or the executive branch got no involvement in the ongoing investigations and hearings aside from the resource persons who were called,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said at a press briefing.

He also said that as of that moment, he had no information if the National Security Council (NSC) or the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) would be assembled but that Congress is working on the government’s priority measures; among these, the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

The Palace spokesperson likewise denied accusations that it was Malacañang’s decision to suspend the Congressional hearings and investigations into the fatal Mamasapano mission in which 44 commandos of the Philippine national Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were brutally slaughtered by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel troops.

“From the very beginning, the President cited the importance of knowing the complete narrative and finding out the whole truth. The determination and the belief in those principles are unshaken,” Coloma said.

Investigations and hearings are ongoing in the Senate, but the House of Representatives has suspended its probe, saying it would resume in March.