President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas was the reason for the death of 44 commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. KAMI learned that the President slammed Roxas for not explaining what happened in January 2015 up until now, during his speech at the campaign rally of PDP-Laban in Tuguegarao on Tuesday. “He wasted 44 lives for nothing. They could not even explain. Why were the police the ones who went when they were totally ignorant of the topography and the physical arrangement of the mountain there?” he said, as reported by the Inquirer (author Nestor Corrales). “This is what I want to ask him: Why use the police? And why did the Army not come in when the battle lasted for a day? Why was there no air support when there was a lot of air assets around the area?” the President added. According to a report by the GMA News (author Dona Magsino), President Duterte shared that he was with Roxas and former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III when the incident in Mamasapano happened. “Nag-upo na kami doon, andyan ‘yung mga general, tinanong niya [former President Aquino] ‘yung mga general… tapos tinanong niya, ‘Kung ikaw general kung ikaw ang nandoon, anong gawin mo?’ P*****I**,” the President said. “Tumindig ako sabi ko Mr. President I have a flight, I have to… tumindig ako because it was a very stupid… magtanong ka ng ganun, natapos na ang araw, patay na ang mga sundalo ko… tumindig ako,” he added. On January 25, 2015, 44 commandos of SAF and some civilians died when they had an encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. In August 2015, Roxas went through the Senate probe to explain his role during the operation as he was the Interior Secretary that time. However, he said that he was not fully aware of the operation’s details. Read more: https://kami.com.ph/89988-pres-duterte-claims-mar-roxas-wasted-44-lives-mamasapano.html#89988
