THE PHILIPPINES RETURNS TO THE 56TH INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION IN VENICE AFTER 50-YEAR HIATUS

MANILA-Fifty-one years after its 1964 participation in the Venice Art Biennale, the Philippines finally returns to one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious exhibitions of contemporary art, with the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda.

Patrick Flores’ curatorial proposal titled Tie A String Around the World was chosen by a panel of distinguished experts from among 16 submissions as the Philippine representative in the 56th International Art Exhibition organized by La Biennale di Venezia, which will run from May 9 to November 22, 2015 in Venice, Italy.

Flores’ work moves around Manuel Conde’s 1950 classic Genghis Khan, co-written and designed by Carlos Francisco and screened at the Museum of Modern Art at the Venice Film Festival in 1952, where it competed with the films of Chaplin, Clement, Fellini, Bergman, and Mizoguchi.

“Being the most lucid mirrors of sensibility, harnessing the arts in this Philippine entry can be a most effective and peaceful way of enabling other people to see the world as Filipinos perceive it,” said NCCA Chairman Felipe M. de Leon, Jr. who also serves as Commissioner for the Philippine Pavilion.

The newly-restored film will be exhibited at the Philippine pavilion, which will occupy three rooms at the European Cultural Centre-Palazzo Mora, and will be positioned in conversation with the contemporary art projects of intermedia artist Jose Tence Ruiz and filmmaker Mariano Montelibano III.

The Pavilion seeks to initiate discussion on the history of the sea and its relationship with the current world, claims to patrimony, and the struggle of nation-states over vast and intensely contested nature.

De Leon further stated that Filipino values “if vividly expressed and vigorously promoted through the arts, can help make the world a more peaceful, creative and inspiring place to live in. The present Philippine participation in this prestigious Biennale is a grand undertaking in this direction.”

Meanwhile, DFA Secretary Albert F. del Rosario stressed, “Culture, viewed as a tool of statecraft, is a compelling element in projecting a country’s status or power. As art lovers and culture watchers the world over converge in Venice this year, and with nearly 100 other countries expected to take part in the Biennale, the Philippines’ participation provides an invaluable opportunity to foster greater mutual understanding and more active people-to-people exchanges through culture.“

Senator Legarda, principal advocate of the project, also expressed jubilation over the country’s participation to the Biennale after five long decades of absence. “It has been 50 years since we last joined this prestigious contemporary art exhibition. We have many talented Filipino artists worthy to be given the chance to showcase their talent in this event. Furthermore, we should also take this opportunity as a platform to engage the international community at a cultural level. I am confident that our artistry and culture would leave other nations in awe.”

Legarda explained that Tie A String Around the World was chosen for its “poetic and political reflection on the history of world making, the links between geography and politics, and the notions of nation, territory and archipelago.”

Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale is considered by many as the “Olympics of contemporary art” that exhibits global trends and engages in critical discourse. For the past century, it has become the breeding ground for world-renowned artists and has played a pivotal role in shaping the canon of art history. In 2013, it has attracted over 475,000 visitors which made it the most visited art exhibition in Italy.

Legarda: Proper Waste Management, A Way To Carbon Fast

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda encouraged Filipino Catholics who will observe the Holy Week to affirm their role as stewards of God’s creation through environment-friendly practices, such as proper solid waste management.

Legarda said that undertaking environment-friendly activities is a way to carbon fast and reconcile with the environment, which has been greatly abused and exploited.

“We are the stewards of God’s creation and as such, we are tasked to protect, not harm, our environment. We should adopt an environment-friendly lifestyle and learn to carbon fast starting this Holy Week. My appeal to carbon fast goes not only to Catholics, but to everyone regardless of faith. A simple way to start is by practicing ecological solid waste management, beginning with segregation at source,” she said.

Legarda, who is the principal sponsor and author of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law, shared how segregation at source can be done.

Every household should have one trash can for biodegradable and food waste; one trash can for recyclables or residual waste; and another for special or hazardous waste, busted lamps, radio and cellphone batteries. For paper that can be recycled, these can be placed flat in a box or in a paper bag.

When going to market or the grocery, bring containers to avoid using plastic bags. Reusable containers can be used in purchasing fish, meat and other poultry products; while bayong and reusable cloth bags can be used for dry items.

“To our local leaders from the provincial, city and municipal levels down to the barangay, greater action is expected as they are tasked to implement the law. It is the barangay that must collect all segregated waste, which should go to the barangay Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for proper waste management,” Legarda explained.

Biodegradable waste goes to composting, animal feeds or biogas; while recyclables go to the junk shops. Only residual waste should be collected by the city or municipal truck.

Meanwhile, special or hazardous waste will go to the city/municipal MRF for proper treatment or disposal in coordination with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

“Ecological solid waste management may seem difficult at first especially since many are not yet used to it, but let us take it as a simple sacrifice that would make our surroundings cleaner, safer and healthier. It should be easy if we all strive to make it work and if we care enough for our environment, for our children, and for all of God’s creation,” Legarda concluded.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on the MILF report on the Mamasapano incident

MANILA-While the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed in its report that it did not use excessive force during the Mamasapano clash, the brutal death of 44 members of the PNP-Special Action Force (vis-à-vis 17 or 18 from their ranks) clearly belies such assertion.

 

The obliteration and gruesome execution of nearly all ground forces who entered Tukanalipao in lawful pursuit of terrorists Marwan and Basit Usman is indicative of a startling overkill by a group who is attempting to forge a peace pact with the government.

 

It is lamentable that the MILF failed to own up any responsibility in the bloody incident (except for failure of intelligence gathering) and conveniently blamed the SAF for the lack of coordination, whereas the PNP in its separate investigation honorably admitted to its own share of operational lapses and recognized command accountability up to the highest ranking official.

 

The MILF leadership failed to take charge over their members as they went trigger happy against policemen over a legitimate counterterrorism operation and to exercise respectable control over their area which became the hideout for international criminals.

 

To my mind, the MILF through its actions on the Mamasapano massacre lost serious ground in peace negotiations and eroded its own credibility in becoming the government’s partner in attaining peace and security in Mindanao.

Drilon vows to work harder, amid rising public trust, approval ratings

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today promised that he will continue to work hard in fulfilling his responsibilities to the nation, amid the results of recent Pulse Asia survey that reported continued rising public approval and trust to his office.  

Drilon said that he is immensely thankful for the “people’s appreciation and trust,” and will strive to further improve his work in leading the upper chamber. 

“I will continue to work hard in the Senate, and I will do all that I can to prove to our Filipino public, that indeed, I value and deserve the trust that they give my office,” he said.  

The latest Pulse Asia survey, conducted from March 1 to 7, 2015 said that Drilon enjoyed a “near majority” public approval rating of 49%, higher than his 47% approval rating last November of 2014. Public trust to his office is also higher, from 42% last November 2014, to 44% in March of this year.

The survey’s data also showed that Drilon is currently the most approved of and trusted among the highest officials of the land. 

Drilon said that while he is grateful for the figures, he “remains focused, with his feet remaining firm on the ground.” 

“Surveys are reflections of public perceptions as they were during that period when it was conducted. If anything, it just reinforces my belief that the only way to gain public trust and approval is to actually do one’s duties as a public servant, and serve and uplift the people,” he concluded.

Drilon to attend Lee Kuan Yew’s state funeral in Singapore

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon will represent President Benigno Aquino III, the government and the Filipino people at the state funeral of Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday at the age of 91.

“The President has asked me to represent him and the Filipino people as we join the nation of Singapore in this time of grieving for the loss of a great Asian leader, former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew,” said Drilon.

He said that the state funeral will be held on March 29, 2015, at the Singapore University Cultural Center.

Drilon will be joined by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.

The Senate leader said that the Filipino people are deeply affected by Lee’s death, who, he added, inspired many leaders of various nations, including himself.

“Lee Kuan Yew showed us that resolute political will can positively transform nations and societies and uplift them from the shackles of poverty,” said Drilon.

Lee has been recognized by the world for transforming Singapore into an economically stable nation. He served as Singapore’s prime minister for 31 years, the longest serving prime minister, from 1959 to 1990. 

On World TB Day, Recto asks : 'What about the Fallen 27,000?'

MANILA-What about the Fallen 27,000?

As the country observes World TB Day today, Sen. Ralph Recto called on government to plowback a portion of its good fiscal numbers in fighting tuberculosis, a scourge which claims the lives of 27,000 Filipinos a year.

“It kills 75 a day, more than the 67 policemen, rebels and civilians who died in the Mamasapano tragedy. TB is a massacre which happens daily. It is our country’s no. 8 top killer,” he said.

“Since 1990, TB has killed 747,000, or six times the present population of San Juan (City),” Recto said.

While the Philippines has scored modest victories in wiping out the communicable disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, like achieving an 88 percent cure rate, above the world average, “much remains to be done,” Recto said.

“First, there is the challenge of high TB prevalence rate. 438,000 of our people have it, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data. Globally, we’re 9th in the WHO watch-list of 22 high-burdened countries which constitute 80% of all TB cases worldwide,” the senator said.  

“But even if we cure more people, more new cases crop up every year. In 2013, 229,918 new cases were reported,” Recto said.

“We have 26 new TB patients every hour,” he said. “In 2012, 1 in 10 of new cases, or 22,000, were children.”

To cure each patient, the cost is P8,500 to P10,000, which according to Recto, “necessitates a bigger government equity in shouldering the cost, as this cannot wholly be an out-of the-pocket expense of a poor patient who cannot.”

But in the case of the multidrug resistant TB, the treatment course costs P250,000.

Sadly, according to WHO assessment of the country’s “financing TB control”, 48 percent of the amount required by the annual national anti-TB program remains unfunded. 

For 2014, the national government budget to fight TB is P1.1 billion, which is augmented by about the same amount from official development aid.   

Recto has filed a proposed Alis TB Act which arrays guaranteed funding sources for the TB eradication drive.

One of this is “deepening and expanding” PhilHealth’s coverage of TB cases.

While PhilHealth, Recto said, has commendably included TB treatment in its “All Case Rates” payment scheme with rates ranging from P4,000 to P15,600, “there is the question of the small segment of the population without PhilHealth insurance.”

To close this gap, Recto, in his Senate Bill 711, is calling for mandatory PhilHealth coverage of all TB patients, whether member or not.

“If we are nearing universal health insurance coverage, then PhilHealth should not worry, because this will only affect a small portion of the populace,” he said. 

"Besides, in the first half of 2014, of the almost half-million TB patients, Philhealth was able to pay 11,804 claims for TB DOTS, at an average P2,072 per claim. Hindi pa nga number of patients ‘yan, kasi one patient can have multiple claims, so hindi ito mabigat sa kanila," Recto said.

“As to the premiums required, the government can defray part of it by increasing its subsidy to the national health insurer, through national budget allocations,” he said. 

Recto said boosting the TB control fund is something the government can afford.

“There is money but we don’t spend it. Last year, we underspent by P302.7 billion. Programmed expenditure was P2,284.3 billion while actual disbursement was P1,981.6 billion,” he said.

“Kahit 1 percent lang ng underspending natin ay ilagay natin sa TB control, or P3 billion, malaking tulong talaga,” Recto said.

“Remember, the country is losing approximately P8 billion annually from sickness and deaths due to TB. So this spending has a big socio-economic ROI (return of investment),” he said.

"Lahat naman ng victories natin sa TB dahil sa dagdag na pondo. In 1981, yung smear positive TB cases were 6.6 per 1,000 persons. In 2007, 2 na lang per 1,000," he said.

Search on for 2015 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- RFM Foundation is calling on universities and colleges in Central Luzon to submit nominations for the Search for 2015 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP).

 

“Nominees must be Filipino citizens who are not more than 30 years old, of excellent moral character, and without any record of criminal conviction or unfavorable disciplinary case in school,” RFM Foundation Program Director Noorain Sabdulla said.

 

They must be bona fide graduating students for the current academic year (AY 2014-2015) from a first baccalaureate degree including Health-Related Professions; Agriculture; Science and Math; Information Technology; Engineering; Architecture and Maritime; Humanities, Communication, and Social Sciences; Teacher Education; Criminology; Business, Economics, Industry, and Entrepreneurship; and Accountancy or Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Laws degrees.

 

“Nominees must likewise be outstanding students in academic and co- and extra curricular activities with no failing grades during entire study in college, Medicine or Law School,” Sabdulla added.

 

Forms may be downloaded at TOSP’s official Facebook page-www.facebook.com/TenOutstandingStudentsPH or in the RFM corporation website-http://www.rfmfoods.com/rfm-foundation.

 

Those who have questions may email tosp.r3ach@gmail.com or contact Lawrence Charlemagne David at 09062133694.

 

Nominations must be submitted to the Regional Office of Commission on Higher Education in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga on or before March 30. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

CSC 3 continues to accept nominations for the 2015 Search for Outstanding Public Officials and Employees

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Central Luzon continues to accept nominations for the 2015 Search for Outstanding Public Officials and Employees.

 

State workers may be nominated in any of the three categories namely the Presidential Lingkod Bayan, Pag-asa and Dangal ng Bayan awards.

 

“Presidential Lingkod Bayan is conferred to an individual or group for their extraordinary contributions resulting from an idea or performance which had nationwide impact on public interest, security and patrimony. The contribution may be a suggestion, innovation, invention or superior accomplishment,” CSC Regional Director Myrna Macatangay said.

 

“Pag-asa prize is given to an individual or group for outstanding contributions resulting from an idea or performance which directly benefitted more than one department of government while the Dangal ng Bayan accolade is bestowed to a person in recognition of his/her performance of extraordinary act or public service and consistent demonstration of exemplary ethical behavior on the basis of his/her observance of the eight norms of behavior under Republic Act 6713 otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,” Macatangay added.

 

Nominees must be in government service at the time of the nomination.

 

Posthumous nominations are allowed provided that the person/s to be nominated died while still actively working for the state.

 

The nomination should be filed within a year from the death of the official/s or employee/s.

 

They should also have obtained at least a “Very Satisfactory” rating or its equivalent in the last two performance evaluation periods and have never been found guilty to an administrative or criminal offense involving moral turpitude.

 

A group may be nominated even if there are members who fail to meet squarely the mentioned qualifications but these members, however, shall be excluded from the grant of award should the team be chosen as a recipient.

 

Nomination forms and the requirements may be downloaded in the commission’s official website – www.csc.gov.ph.

 

For more inquiries, please call the CSC Regional Office in the following numbers: (045) 455-3241 and 455-3242 or visit their provincial field offices in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.

 

Deadline for the submission of nominations will be on March 31.

 

The annual search for public service exemplars is managed by CSC’s Honor Awards Program secretariat. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

Recto : Creating DICT will allow Transport dep't to focus on transport mess

MANILA-One “good side effect” of creating a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is that the present Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will be streamlined into a Department of Transportation whose sole focus is fixing the nation’s transportation woes.

In his speech sponsoring the bill creating the DITC, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto explained that units of the DOTC with functions and responsibilities dealing with communications will be folded into the new department.

The rest of the DOTC offices will comprise the new Department of Transportation, Recto said. 

“The downsized Transportation department can then concentrate in solving our many transportation problems,” he said.

“It will now have the undivided attention and the narrowed mandate to ensure that trains run on time, run on new tracks, and not run off them; that the shipping industry is buoyant and ships afloat, literally; that jeeps don't cut trips, buses don't cut lives short, and transport officials don't take a cut,” Recto said in urging his colleagues to approve Senate Bill 2686.

“It will have its hands full in regulating our almost 8 million motor vehicles and 1 million registered for-hire vehicles, in attending to the needs of our 55 million air passengers and the 54 million who ride ships,” Recto said.

The DICT will be established by merging the Information and Communications Technology Office, National Computer Center, National Computer Institute, Telecommunications Office and National Telecommunications Training Institute.

To be attached to it, for policy and program coordination purposes only, are National Telecommunications Commission, National Privacy Commission and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center.

All work related to cybersecurity, including the formulation of the National Cybersecurity Plan and the formation of a National Computer Emergency Response Team, which Recto described as “our I.T. Special Action Forces”, will be transferred to the new department. 

One of the reasons why a DICT must be formed is the need  “to have a digital sentinel,” Recto said.  

“We live in an era when terrorists don't have to blast bank doors to do mayhem but simply unleash a virus that could shred or suck out financial data. An enemy with a missile is as dangerous as one with malware,” the senator stressed in his speech.

Forming the new Department of Transportation are the Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for motor vehicles;

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Manila International Airport Authority, Clark International Airport Corporation, Civil Aeronautics Board, Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation for the air sector;

Rail agencies like Philippine National Railways, Light Rail Transit Authority, North Luzon Railways Corporation and Metro Rail Transit;

Maritime offices like Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority, Maritime Industry Authority, Cebu Ports Authority and Philippine Merchant Marine Academy.

They will be joined by Office for Transportation Security, Toll Regulatory Board, Office of Transportation Cooperatives in the new department. 

Downplaying concerns that the DICT will create red tape and expenses, Recto said “it will not birth a huge bureaucracy, nor burn a deep hole in the taxpayer's pocket.” 

“It will have the same, if not smaller, budgetary footprint, as what the affected agencies together have. Not a single new centavo will be appropriated in starting up DICT. It will just use the budget of offices to be abolished,” he said.

“The idea is to create a small but smart workforce. We’re limiting the number of undersecretaries and top officials. The creation of regional offices is not mandatory, but optional,” Recto explained.

Recto cited the growing role of ICT (information and communications technology) in society in pushing for the creation of an agency dedicated to its growth and development.

“There are more cellphone subscriptions than Filipinos today -114 million accounts versus 105 million souls. Overall, 4 in 10 have access to the Internet,” he said.

“But more than these, ICT is putting people to work, taxes in government coffers, money in the economy, and hope in our country's future,” he said.

Income from outsourcing - the BPOs, the call centers, the back offices, medical transcription, game development, creative process outsourcing, to name a few – by Recto’s projection, will reach $25 billion or 8 percent of GDP next year.

The sector employs a million Filipinos, more if ancillary services are included. “One in four jobs today are occupied by knowledge workers,” Recto said. 

It is the third largest source of dollars - after electronics and OFW remittances -and “is a proven growth driver.” 

“Every 10 percentage points increase in broadband penetration is said to boost the GDP by 1 percent,” Recto stressed.

“But to respond to the above challenges, we need a main server, so to speak, to spur ICT development, institutionalize e-government, and manage the country's ICT environment and direction -- and that is the DICT.”

Previous bills creating the DICT had hurdled crucial phases of legislation in the past, like being passed by the House and the Senate, “only to flounder in the last minute for lack of time,” Recto noted. 

“This time, let us give it the final push. If we can bring this to the President's table by June, then we are time-on-target,” he said.

“Hashtag L-O-L. Let's Okay this Law, “ was Recto’s closing line in his speech.

DOST to roll out hotspots in 967 towns, NCR, 14 cities Free public Wi-Fi must help farmers, not Farmville

MANILA-As government rolls out free Wi-Fi hotspots in 967 towns, Metro Manila and 14 key cities this July, the senator who sponsored the project’s P1.4 billion funding in the 2015 national budget urged its implementor to ensure that the project will get “more bytes and benefits out of the buck.” 

Sen. Ralph Recto who sponsored the amendment to the national budget bill that the Free Internet Connectivity in Public Places Project’s budget be raised by P1 billion, said the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) must choose installation areas which will yield the greatest public benefit.

Recto said “hospitals, schools, transport hubs and libraries must be prioritized.”  

“We would like these Wi-Fi areas to create value, promote education, help trade and travel, and be a lifeline to those who are in distress,” he said.

“That’s why I have told the DOST to pilot it in some public hospitals so that those who are sick or those who are taking care of the sick, be they doctors or relatives, will be able to communicate  with  family members and medical staff,” Recto said.

“If you’re a son of an OFW and you would like to Skype with your father who is in the Middle East because your mom has been stricken ill, then you can do it within the hospital premises,” he said.

Recto said the rationale behind the program is to tap it for social good. 

“So it’s the reason why it will be set up in libraries so it can aid in research and instruction, and promote reading,” the senator explained. 

Other priority areas should be frontline government offices which draw the longest queues and the largest crowds.  

“Pwede siguro lagyan ang Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) para  doon sa mga OFW na kumukuha ng papeles doon. Malaki ang ambag nila sa ating ekonomiya,” the senator said.

“It will also be set up in town halls and town plazas.  Kaya kung, halimbawa, ang isa ay malapit sa Municipal Agriculture Office, pwedeng gamitin ito upang alamin ang presyo ng gulay sa Maynila. Ito naman ang layunin talaga : to help real farms and not just Farmville players,” he said.

“Or kung nasa Civil Registrar’s office ka at may problema ka sa birth certificate mo, doon mismo pwede kang tumawag sa sino mang makakatulong sa ‘yo.”

Recto said he welcomed DOST’s plan to set up free Wi-Fi in airports and seaports “as these would be a big help to tourists and travelers.”

“2015 is Visit Philippines Year. It is also the year we’ll be hosting 15,000 delegates to the APEC Leaders’ Summit and runup activities. As part of our preparations, we’re sprucing up NAIA, building flyovers, and repairing our roads.  Wi-Fi in gateways should be a parcel of this,” Recto said.

“Despite these, gusto rin natin na huwag maabuso ang free Wi-Fi. Ayaw naman nating maging corporate headquarters ang mga iyan ng Facebook generation or tambayan ng mahilig lang sa selfie. There should be users’ rules,” he said. 

According to the DOST, access points in 967 3^rd to 6^th class towns and Metro Manila will be set up based on the P1.4 billion budget. It will also have “points of presence” in 6 Luzon, 4 Visayas, and 4 Mindanao cities.

In all, there will be 9,706 rural links in unserved and underserved areas.

The agency said it will partner with the country's telecommunication companies in this project.

DOST has announced that it is now studying the available packages and will start bidding for the project in April. 

In his sponsorship speech creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology last Monday, Recto said “many problems we confront today have ICT solutions which can ease the pain they cause or make them totally go away. 

“If roads are clogged with traffic, then the information highway provides a detour. That way, energy is saved, pollution reduced, and mass sanity is preserved,” he said. 

“We are now living in the electronic republic, where views of the sovereign are advocated online, and services must be rendered to them on the same platform,” he said.

Focus on reports' other findings like dud grenades, defective radio, deceptive MILF ceasefire

MANILA-There are many “non-controversial, unchallenged” recommendations in both the Board of Inquiry (BOI) and the Senate reports on the Mamasapano fiasco which government can act on immediately, Sen. Ralph Recto said today.

“There are many prescriptions which can be acted upon motu propio. Reports are meant to be acted upon, not archived.  

He cited the BOI recommendation to grant the Fallen 44 posthumous promotion and one-rank promotion to the surviving members of the 84th Seaborne and Police Officer 2 Christopher Lalan, “the lone survivor” of the 55th Special Action Force Company.

“I think there is universal agreement on this, so the ball on their promotion should have started rolling a long time ago,” Recto said.

The 38-man 84th Searborne was the “main effort” which killed Malaysian bombmaker Zhulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan in early dawn of Jan. 25 in Barangay Tukanalipao but encountered Moro rebels on their way back.

It suffered 9 dead and 14 wounded.    

The 36-man 55th SAC was the main support unit but on their way to rendezvous with the withdrawing 84th, it got encircled by Moro rebels which it fought in a 10-hour gunbattle, from a flat cornfield which offered no protection.   

Lalan is the lone survivor of this group.

Recto said the BOI findings on dud ammunition and faulty radio devices must merit an official probe on the Philippine National Police (PNP) procurement process and status of equipment.

Page 89 of the BOI report noted that “several rounds of ammunition of M203 grenade launchers were defective” and “some radios of the SAF Commandos were unreliable (and) were not designed for military-type tactical operations.”

Other logistical deficiencies bared by the Mamasapano operations “is our lack of air assets, to provide fire support and medical evacuation.”

“Pati air ambulance, mga Amerikano pa nagbigay. I think after buying Polish helicopters, South Korean fighter jets, and these two Airbus transport plane from France, ayusin natin ang ating helicopter fleet which is needed during disaster rescue.”

Recto said the PNP should also revisit its policies on funding large-scale mission operations as the BOI noted that Oplan Exodus, the plan to arrest Marwan and two other terrorists, reportedly had a measly P100,000 budget.

Recto also endorsed the BOI recommendation that several manuals and protocols be reviewed and strengthened as their weaknesses were exposed by the Mamasapano tragedy.

Among these is the Joint AFP-PNP Operational Guidelines for Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, particularly sections dealing with law enforcement operations.

Recto said one finding in the BOI report which should merit further investigation or clarification is how the PNP and AFP were lulled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) into believing that it had already imposed a ceasefire.

“The embattled SAF Commandos even observed a ceasefire after they’ve been ordered to.  If you read the report, there were several text messages relaying to our troops the order and the assurance of the MILF leadership that it has called for a ceasefire,” Recto said.

“Dahil dito, hindi bumuhos ng todo or nadelay ang reinforcement ng Army kasi meron na ngang  pasabi ang MILF na ceasefire na sila. Eh drawing lang naman pala. D’yan tayo nabola. Ang nangyari, it was the government side which obeyed the ceasefire. It became a unilateral ceasefire – by us,” Recto said.

Recto noted that several recommendations of the BOI report are being acted upon by the concerned agencies.

He cited the case of the rifle handed over by a surviving Seaborne member to Army soldiers but ended up as among those surrendered by the MILF. The claim has been ordered investigated by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Catapang.

The BOI said the Ferfrans special operations assault rifle of PO2 Rommel Magno was handed to one of the members of the Army’s Division Reconnaissance Company but was among the firearms returned by the MILF.

Recto said he was also told that the PNP has officially begun determining who among the dead, wounded, or surviving commandos deserve the PNP’s highest award, the Medalya ng Kagitingan.

“Marami doon sa BOI and Senate report na hindi na dapat pagdebatihan at pwede ng aksyunan,” Recto said.

Recto said the “reports’ findings on the President’s role in the operations is but one of many.”

“There is too much hair-splitting on what the President should have or could have done, or should be doing, but if you read the two reports, there are far more important actionable recommendations there which are undisputed,” Recto said.