FORMER Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima on Monday posted bail at the Sandiganbayan for the “graft and usurpation of public functions charges” filed against him in connection with the gruesome Mamasapano incident in 2015.
A total P20,000 bail was posted by Purisima: P10,000 for graft and P10,000 for usurpation of public functions—based on the recommendation of the Ombudsman.
PNP Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas Jr. is also a respondent in the case.
The Ombudsman filed the charges against Purisima and Napeñas on the eve of the second anniversary of the Mamasapano clash last Jan. 24.
Purisima and Napeñas, the Ombudsman said, violated Section 3(a) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.
The Ombudsman, in separate three-page informations, said Purisima, even if under preventive suspension, “unlawfully and feloniously” took part in the planning and execution of the so-called Oplan Exodus.
The operation was intended to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Filipino bomb maker Abdul Bassit Usman.
The Ombudsman placed Purisima under six-month preventive suspension in connection with the alleged anomalous contract the PNP entered with a courier service company.
The suspension order was effective from Dec. 9, 2014 to June 10, 2015.
Despite the suspension, Purisima participated in the Oplan Exodus where he constantly asked and received updates from Napeñas, the Ombudsman said.
The Ombudsman also said Purisima “willfully, unlawfully and criminally” influenced Napeñas to go against the PNP Chain of Command, and officer-in-charge PNP chief Leonardo Espina order for Purisima and other suspended police officers from performing their tasks.
