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During Tuesday’s joint inquiry in the House of Representatives on the Mamasapano tragedy, Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco provided the much needed ice-breaker to a very tense situation.
“The two-term congresswoman provided hilarity during the grueling eight-hour hearing by the House Committees on public order and safety, and on peace, reconciliation and unity, on the Jan 25 bloodbath in Maguindanao province,” writes DJ Yap on Philippine Daily Inquirer.
According to the report, “she mispronounced names, demoted or promoted officials at will, addressed the Interior Secretary only as ‘Mar,’ and cheekily asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) officer in charge, ‘Why aren’t you resigning?’”
Rep. Cojuangco seemed clueless about what a lot of people already knew: That PNP Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina had been kept out of the loop about ‘Oplan Exodus.’
“Don’t you feel like resigning?” Cojuangco asked Espina after pressing him about why he didn’t step in, and why he didn’t have an idea.
Espina answered, “Maybe together with the Secretary, ma’am.” The whole gallery erupted in laughter.
The report noted: “At one point, while she was addressing a question to the police officers present, and when Roxas looked like he was about to reply, Cojuangco said, “I’m not asking you, Mar.”
The congresswoman belatedly realized her boo-boo and apologized, saying, “Oh. I’m sorry, Secretary.”
Photo: Kimi Cojuangco/Twitter
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF have done probes on the Mamasapano encounter to determine what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal. It has since been revealed that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and even some armed civilians were also involved in the clash.
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