Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile now wants the Senate to reopen its investigation on the Mamasapano incident, saying there are questions that need to be answered, especially the participation of government agencies involved.
Enrile initially asked聽a plenary聽debate on the report of the Senate committee on public order and聽dangerous drugs, which conducted an investigation on the incident. The聽probe was spearheaded by the committee chair,聽Senator Grace Poe.
READ: Enrile demands plenary debates on Mamasapano committee report
But during the hearing of the Senate聽finance subcommittee on the proposed聽budget of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the opposition leader said he would ask for the聽reopening of the Senate probe on the Mamasapano incident.
Asked in an interview after the hearing聽if he聽wants the聽investigation to start again at the committee level, Enrile said: 鈥淵eah, because there are questions that were not asked during that hearing.鈥�
鈥淵eah,聽I will ask for the reopening so that we will ask the questions regarding the participation of each agency of government involved,鈥� he further said.
During the聽budget hearing, Enrile asked the government鈥檚 chief negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberations Front (MILF), Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, how she learned about the incident.
Ferrer reiterated her answer to Poe鈥檚 committee that she learned about the incident in the morning of January 25, 2015, the day of the Mamasapano operation that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) men and several MILF rebels dead.
鈥淒id you inform the President that there was an ongoing fighting in Maguindanao after you got the information?鈥� the senator asked, to which Ferrer answered no.
鈥淲hy not? Why did you not inform your boss who鈥檚 handling the peace process?鈥� Enrile asked again.
鈥淭his was a military matter, your honor,鈥� Ferrer answered.
鈥淏ut he鈥檚 the commander-in-chief, he鈥檚 the head of state, head of government, chief executive officer of the Republic of the Philippines Inc., the top policeman in the country, and he was your boss, direct boss in the peace process; and you鈥檙e the subordinate,鈥� said Enrile.
鈥淵ou got the information. Was it your duty to tell your boss that there鈥檚 something going on and he should exercise his powers as handler of the peace process in the country to tell them to stop鈥︹��
But Ferrer explained that at that time she was informed about the incident, the Armed Forces of the Philippines was already aware of the situation.
And when Enrile went on with his queries, Ferrer told the senator that they had already submitted a report to Poe鈥檚 committee.
The committee report on the incident had already been transmitted to the plenary, but it was not scheduled yet for deliberations until now.