Senior Superintendent Manolo Ozaeta, head of the Special
Project for Mindanao, on Wednesday broke his silence over the statement of
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV were PNP-Special Action Force (SAF) commandos
allegedly invited some military officials to a drink on January 24, the eve of
the operation.
The SAF commandos carried out Oplan Exodus on January 25 to
arrest terrorists Zulkifli Bin Hir, aka Marwan, and Abdul Basit Usman.
The elite police troopers killed Marwan but they were
engaged in a clash with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and
other Moro groups in the village
of Tukanalipao
Ozaeta submitted himself to his superiors for explanation
after being alluded to as the police intelligence officer who allegedly “wined
and dined” Philippine Army commanders.
Ozaeta confirmed that he hosted a 2 1/2–hour traditional
“boodlefight” dinner at the Del Rio Splash Resort in Koronadal City
In his manifestation, Ozaeta clarified that the dinner was
held with pure good intention upon his invitation as a gesture of gratitude and
goodwill to officers of the 601st Brigade in recognition of the previous
successful joint operations launched by PNP and AFP units in Central
Mindanao .
He said the party was originally scheduled as a lunch or
dinner party in November and December 2014 but was later moved to 6 p.m. of
Saturday, January 24 upon the suggestion of the AFP counterparts to ensure with
the availability of all guests since it was on a weekend.
Ozaeta maintained it was purely coincidental that the dinner
was held hours before SAF commandos launched Oplan Exodus against High-Value
Targets in Mamasapano.
The party started promptly at 6 p.m. and ended when he and
the Brigade Commander left around 8:45 p.m., he said.
If at all alcoholic drinks were served during the dinner,
these beverages normally come with parties, he said.
“It has no link whatsoever with the Mamasapano operations
nor was it intended to divert our counterpart's attention in reinforcements as
both units did not expect such operations in Mamasapano in the first
place," Ozaeta explained.
Ozaeta said he has been working closely with AFP Units based
in Central Mindanao on some occasions that has
led to successful joint operations against threat groups.
Newly Special Action Force head Chief Superintendent Moro
Virgilio Lazo asked Senator Trillanes to check his facts first before making
claims that SAF officials distracted military men by inviting them to a
drinking spree on the eve of the Mamasapano operation.
Lazo said he was able to talk to several people who joined
in the "drinking spree" and they said that not a single SAF trooper
joined them.
Lazo said the people making such pronouncements should
validate and verify their information as it "adds insult to injury"
sustained by the SAF.
He appealed to Sen. Trillanes, who is a former soldier, to
be responsible on his statement so as not to “cause misunderstanding," and
should conduct investigation on what really happened.
Police authorities maintained the PNP commitment to uphold
the strong bond of camaraderie and unity of purpose with their military
counterparts amid insinuations that tend to undermine the professional
brotherhood and inter-operabililty of police and military security forces in
the aftermath of the Mamasapano incident, said PNP spokesman Chief
Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr.
He said the PNP “respects” Trillanes’ statement but
maintained that the PNP had no intent of sabotaging the AFP.
But Cerbo, who was a former PNP intelligence officer, noted
that “social activities” like parties and dinner are usually organized by
police and military officers to strengthen the relationship of both
institutions.
“Based on my personal experience, we usually hold social
activities with our military counterparts to promote bonding and fellowship
between operatives,” he said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=747754
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