EDITORIAL – Dabawenyos in a blame game

DABAWENYOS think that resigned police director general Alan Purisima should take most of the blame for the massacre of 44 Special Action Force commandoes in the hands of combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private army in the so-called Mamasapano incident last month.
The hierarchy of blame is contained in the findings of an opinion survey conducted by the University of Mindanao Institute of Popular Opinion.
Nine of every 10 Dabawenyos interviewed believe that Purisima is responsible for the bungled operation that also resulted in the killing of wanted international terrorist Marwan, 14 MILF combatants and four civilians, including an 8-year old girl. Next in rank in the blame game topnotchers, pun intended, is SAF commander Napenas, with 84 percent, for not coordinating with other police and military commanders and not following the chain of command . Like in the case of Napenas, 84 percent of the survey respondents, said lack of coordination between the SAF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines on the ground, was likewise responsible for the great loss of lives. Next to blame, with 80 percent, is the MILF for taking out the lives of the already helpless fallen SAF commandos. No. 4 in the blame ranking is the perceived rivalry between the Philippine National Police and the AFP, with 67 percent of respondents pointing their accusing fingers to this direction. The least to take the blame is President Aquino with 60 percent.
The uglier picture is provided by the finding of the survey in that part wherein the respondents were asked why they believe a go-signal was given for the SAF operation. Nine of every 10 Dabawenyos (89 percent) believe that the reward money (of $5 million) could have motivated the higher-ups in giving the go-signal for the risky mission. The second ranking motivation is the “claim to fame” of General Purisima, with 44 p
ercent, followed by the desire to neutralize the terrorists, with 36 percent; actionable information, 25 percent; to spoil the peace process, 23 percent; and “start a war as there is money in war,” 11 percent.
The opinion survey conducted during the period Feb. 5-15 involved 1,241 Dabawenyos from all walks of life in the three congressional districts of Davao City. As can be gleaned, the opinion survey was immediately conducted just days after the unfortunate incident in Mamasapano. If a second survey asking the same questions is conducted today, could the perception of Dabawenyos be different from the first survey? What do you think? With the cacophony of opinions flying thick and fast in all conceivable forms of platform all over the country, we think that it is always a good thing for Dabawenyos to speak up and be heard. After all, we’re just a few hundred kilometers away from where it happened and we are very much part of Mindanao which is affected by the incident, like it or not.