The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has dismissed the charges of graft and usurpation of official functions against former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima and former PNP- Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) director Getulio Napeñas Jr., in connection with the botched operation that led to the bloody killing of 44 SAF troopers in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
“The Court finds and so holds that there exists no probable cause to merit the issuance of a warrant of arrest against accused Napeñas for violation of Section 3a of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019 and usurpation of official functions,” read the 19-page resolution, which was released to reporters late Tuesday afternoon.
As for Purisima, his motion to quash was granted by the anti-graft court.
“The charges against said accused…are dismissed, without prejudice to the filing of the appropriate charge/s against him,” it read.
Associate Justice Alex Quirol, Division chairperson, penned the resolution, with Associate Justices Reynaldo Cruz and Michael Frederick Musngi concurring. Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto dissented.
In his ruling, Quirol clarified that the Court “does not conclude that herein accused are without any liability in the conduct of the operations of Oplan Exodus.”
“What the Court merely rules upon is the non-existence of probable cause as against accused Napeñas for both charges and the insufficiency of the allegations in the Informations filed against accused Purisima,” he wrote.
The hold departure orders against the two former PNP officials were also ordered lifted.
The end goal of Oplan Exodus — carried out on January 25, 2015 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao — was the neutralization of 2002 Bali bombing suspect Zulkilfi Bin Hir, alias Marwan.
Then President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered Purisima, despite the latter’s suspension at that time, to lead the SAF commandos in the operation. In the end, some 44 of Napeñas’s men ended up getting killed as their group was overrun by the Moro rebels who used the area as a stronghold.
Bin Hir was slain by the elite troopers during the early part of the mission.
It can be recalled that the Ombudsman withdrew the charges against Aquino in August 2019. (Ellson A. Quismorio)
