PNoy holds 3-hour dialog with SAF as new chief takes command of elite police unit

From InterAksyon (Mar 4): PNoy holds 3-hour dialog with SAF as new chief takes command of elite police unit



The incoming SAF chief, Chief Supt. Moro Virgilio Lazo (left), introduces President Aquino to the outgoing officer in charge, CSupt. Noli Talino, at the turnover rites in Camp Bagong Diwa. Lazo headed the PNP's Firearms and Explosives Office before being tapped to head the SAF, where he once served. MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU

A returning officer of the PNP's Special Action Force has been appointed its new chief in simple rites witnessed Wednesday by President Benigno Aquino III, who held a nearly three-hour, closed-door dialogue - with some tense moments as both sides pressed each other for answers - with members of the elite police unit before the turnover.

State-owned media, however, quoted Palace officials as saying the prolonged exercise was intended to tease out the details about the Mamasapano debacle  in order to rebuild the SAF.

It was the President's second attempt to thaw relations with SAF members since the January 25 anti-terrorist mission that left 44 of the elite police commandos dead and dealt the President his worst crisis thus far. Wednesday's dialogue was more productive than his first "pep talk" with the SAF members at dawn of January 30, where state video showed Mr. Aquino repeatedly prodding the SAF commandos to speak up, even air grievances, only to be greeted with sullen expressions and silence.

On Wednesday, according to officials who attended the dialogue, the SAF members were more vocal, airing concerns about how resource constraints kept them from doing their tasks well and exposed them to undue risk, including from - as sources disclosed - a lot of problems with their ammunition. They also discussed concerns about usage of leaves, training, and other professional issues, said one source.

The SAF members also kept pressing the President about why no military reinforcements came, thus leaving the blocking force, the 55th Special Action Company, at the mercy of the well-armed, numerically superior elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro islamic Freedom Fighters.

Yet another source said there was restiveness among the SAF, as the President needled them about minute operational details, at one point saying that the mission should have been aborted and reset. The decisions on the ground of Supt. Raymond Train, one of the survivors, were also the focus of the President's critique, he added.

But first, according to the sources, the SAF members were also keen on having the President acknowledge clearly that their mission was a success, given that the Mamasapano operations ultimately led to the killing of the Malaysian terrorist  Zulkifli bin Hir, aka "Marwan", believed to have been behind the Bali Bombings in Indonesia.

The SAF members were apparently bothered that President Aquino's publicized SMS response to suspended police chief Alan Purisima on that fateful morning had reflected an angry president who felt that getting Marwan was not enough, because the other target, bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman, got away. In response, the President reportedly explained to the SAF men on Wednesday the context of his text messages to Purisima, and gave the SAF full credit for bagging Marwan.

Turnover sees 'Balik-SAF' officer as new chief

After the dialogue, the President witnessed the assumption of the SAF command by Chief Supt. Moro Virgilio Lazo, who had been until Wednesday the chief of the PNP's Firearms and Explosives Office. Lazon takes over from officer-in-charge Noli Talino. The latter had taken over after SAF chief Getulio Napenas was sacked over the January 25 Mamasapano debacle.

 

In brief remarks on assuming the top SAF post, Lazo thanked the President for his trust, while assuring the men and women of the elite police unit he would do his best to lead them.

"I am grateful, honored, and humbled to head SAF," Lazo said. He said he was "excited to be back home, excited to work again with you," addressing directly the members of the SAF.

Together, he added, he hoped they could continue pursuing their "commitment to be vanguards of peace."

Lazo is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1984, under "Class Maharlika."

Lazo spoke right after the turnover of the command symbol, property and equipment - rites witnessed by the President. The turnover was led by  PNP Officer in Charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Esoina, and assisted by Chief Supt. Talino.

The President arrived at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City at 10 a.m., and was welcomed by DILG Secretary Mar Roxas,  Espina,  P/Dir. Carmelo E. Valmoria, Regional Director, PNP-NCRPO, and Deputy Director General MarceloGarbo, Chief Directorial Staff.

PNoy underscores importance of rebuilding SAF

Meanwhile, the state-owned Philippines News Agency quoted Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. as saying the President underscored the need to rebuild the capability of the SAF as an elite unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The President made the comment after his three-hour meeting with SAF officials and troopers at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

Secretary Coloma Jr. said the meeting focused on a review of the operations or "Oplan Exodus" conducted to arrest international terror suspect Zulkifli bin Hir as "Marwan" and Basit Usman in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25.

”This review is essential in identifying points for improvement in the conduct of similar operations,” Coloma said in a statement.

”The President emphasized the importance of rebuilding the capability of SAF as an elite unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on account of the vital role it performs,” he added.

The PCOO chief said President Aquino also pledged support for the acquisition of the needed equipments and resources for the SAF troopers.

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who was present at the meeting, said SAF troopers were able to talk to the President about their work-related concerns.

Among the concerns the troopers brought up were their lack of leave from work and the lack of hazard pay for some SAF members.

Secretary Roxas added that the President gave the PNP a deadline to resolve the matter.

“Binigyan ng Pangulo ng malinaw na timeline na within 30 days ay isumite sa kanyang tanggapan, ibig sabihin nakadaan na ito sa PNP, nakadaan na sa NAPOLCOM (National Police Commission) bago dumating sa Tanggapan ng Pangulo, within 30 days, itong mga bagay na ito,” he said.

The Senate hearings on Mamasapano showed that upon advice of former PNP chief Alan Purisima, the sacked SAF chief, Getulio Napenas, carried out Oplan Exodus - the mission to get Marwan and Usman - without prior coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The 392-man SAF team was able to neutralize Marwan but the SAF troopers encountered the combined forces of the MILF and the BIFF.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/106234/pnoy-holds-3-hour-dialog-with-saf-as-new-chief-takes-command-of-elite-police-unit