Aquino is Criminally Liable According to the Facts

Aquino cannot escape topmost responsibility and ignominy for the gory Mamasapano fiasco. Despite the pussy-footing or overly diffident language towards Aquino and the thrust to put the main blame on Napeñas, the conclusions of the Board of Inquiry cannot avoid mentioning facts which point to the guilt of Aquino for relying on the suspended General Purisima, breaking the chain of command, making impossible timely reinforcements and causing the unnecessary death of his own 44 men in SAF.

Read the first three conclusions and pay attention to the unavoidable facts for which Aquino is criminally accountable.

1. The President gave the go-signal and allowed the execution of Oplan Exodus after the concept of operations (CONOPS) was presented to him by Director of Special Action Force (SAF) Police Director Getulio Napeñas.

2. The President allowed the participation of the suspended Chief Philippine National Police (CPNP) Police Director General Alan Purisima in the planning and execution of the Oplan Exodus despite the suspension order of the Ombudsman.

3. The President exercised his prerogative to deal directly with Napeñas instead of Officer-in-Charge of the PNP (OIC-PNP) Police Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina. While the President has the prerogative to deal directly with any of his subordinates, the act of dealing with Napeñas instead of OIC-PNP Espina bypassed the established PNP Chain of Command. Under the Manual for PNP Fundamental Doctrine, the Chain of Command runs upward and downward. Such Manual requires the commander to discharge his responsibilities through a Chain of Command.