Page 37 - SEPTEMBER 2017 B ISSUE

September 2017 / Fortnightly – No. 18 • UK & Europe Edition
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MANILA – Ombudsman Conchita
Carpio-Morales has affirmed the
finding of probable cause to charge
former President Benigno Aquino
III before the Sandiganbayan for the
2015 Mamasapano tragedy, where 44
members of the police Special Action
Force on a mission to get a Malaysian
terrorist were killed in a clash with
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
in Maguindanao.
Aquino will be facing trial for
Usurpation of Official Functions
(Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code)
and violation of Section 3(a) of the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act
(Republic Act No. 3019), according
to a press release of the Office of the
Ombudsman on Thursday.
“President Aquino has repeatedly
admitted and asserted in his counter-
affidavit and in the instant motion
that he utilized the services of (then
preventively suspended Philippine
National Police Chief Alan) Purisima
for Oplan Exodus, albeit he is insisting
that it was only for a limited role of a
resource person,” the Ombudsman said.
“To this Office, however, the
evidence on record regarding the
extent of Purisima’s actual participation
in Oplan Exodus, shows that he was
certainly much more than a mere
resource person. That President Aquino
utilized the services of the preventively
suspended Purisima, prior to and
during the implementation, thereby
giving Purisima an active role in Oplan
Exodus as he was exercising a degree
of authority and discretion over (SAF
Director Getulio) Napeñas, is the crux
Despite culling amid bird flu, poultry prices
seen stable heading into holiday season
MANILA – The Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) said poultry prices
are likely to remain stable heading into
the holiday season even after thousands
of birds were culled due to the avian flu.
The DTI said poultry businesses
reassured them in a meeting that supply
can cope with demand.
Besides, prices have also bounced
back to the normal pre-bird flu levels,
according to monitoring by the DTI.
The DTI said it is next set to meet with September 14, 2017, 7:39 PM
of the finding of probable cause against
President Aquino,” the Ombudsman
explained.
Oplan Exodus was created to
arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin
Hir, alias Marwan, and two cohorts.
In early January 2015, Aquino
met with Purisima, Napeñas, and
PNP Intelligence Group head Chief
Superintendent Fernando Mendez
at Bahay Pangarap in Malacañang to
discuss the operation.
Oplan Exodus was carried out
on January 25, 2015. As the police
commandos moved in at dawn to
apprehend the terrorists, they came
under fire from the MILF, BIFF, and
other armed groups. Besides the 44 SAF
men, 18 MILF fighters and five civilians
were also killed.
“To this Office, President Aquino’s act
of utilizing the services of Purisima for
Oplan Exodus set into motion the latter’s
participation and involvement therein
prior to and during its implementation,”
the Ombudsman said.
“In fact, measured against the nature
and extent of the short message service
(SMS) exchanges alone between
Purisima and President Aquino on
January 8, 13, and 25, 2015, as quoted
in the Resolution, President Aquino’s
insistence on Purisima’s role as a mere
resource person for Oplan Exodus
does not lie vis-à-vis the evidence,” the
Ombudsman added.
Morales said she found probable
cause against Aquino for having utilized
Purisima’s services for Oplan Exodus
while the latter was under preventive
suspension. Thus, she said, Aquino
was complicit in and influenced the
other food importers to assess movement
of prices toward Christmas, and the
possible effect of a weakening peso.
“According to them, there is no
reason to say that supply will be
affected; therefore there is more reason
to say that perhaps in all likelihood
prices will remain stable,” said DTI
Undersecretary Teodoro Pascua, the
head of the department’s Consumer
Protection Group. n Bim Santos, News5 |
NEWS www.hello-philippines.com 37
commission of the offenses.
According to Supreme Court Former President Benigno Aquino III implementation were perfectly within
the bounds of his powers and functions
jurisprudence, she added, “in all cases of by the complaint. But since I wasn’t as the President of the Philippines and
preventive suspension, the suspended complained about with regards to Chief Executive. ”
official is barred from performing the usurpation, we never had the chance to
functions of his office and does not rebut or refute any of the allegations,” Based on the motion for
receive salary in the meanwhile.” he added. reconsideration, Aquino also said
that “his only intent was to utilize
The Ombudsman said that In the Ombudsman’s press release, the expertise of Purisima and not for
Usurpation of Official Functions carried it was said that Morales had junked Purisima to command or plan anything,
the penalty of six months and one day Aquino’s claims that he was denied but just to help him understand what
to four years and two months; the graft due process and he had been afforded Napeñas and his people were talking
charge, meanwhile, carried a penalty the opportunity to be heard during the about and that he was a passive receiver
of imprisonment of six years and one preliminary investigation. of information regarding an on-going
month to fifteen years. operation.” n Tricia Aquino, News5 |
The press release cited his motion for
In July, Aquino told The Philippine reconsideration, where Aquino said that InterAksyon | September 14, 2017, 5:01 PM
Star that the Ombudsman’s decision to “all the actions he carried out during
charge him was a surprise, as according the briefing for Oplan Exodus and its
to him, there had been no complaint
filed against him in relation to the
charges.
“I asked (my lawyers), can I be
judged for something that I was never
complained about? And they said
that it is in the prerogatives of the
Ombudsman. They can define what the
charges should be,” he said.
“There was no complaint. And the
complaint would normally be the form
of an affidavit of complaint to which
you are asked to submit your counter-
affidavit and refute the facts presented
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