Let Aquino stand trial for Mamasapano carnage

Finally, a glimmer of justice for the kin of 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who were slain in January 2015 following a botched counter-terrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales seems to have come to her senses and on Friday ordered the indictment of former president Benigno S. Aquino 3rd, former PNP chief Alan Purisima, and former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas for graft and usurpation of authority.

Aquino will stand accused, along with Purisima and Napeñas, of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Revised Penal Code. This was because of the highly irregular, and, according to the Ombudsman, criminal manner in which Aquino authorized the Mamasapano raid that led to the deaths of 60 people including the 44 SAF men in a “misencounter” with terrorists and Moro insurgents.