Getulio Pascua Napeñas, Jr. (born July 18, 1959) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

politician and retired

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

who served as commander of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) from 2013 until 2015. He is blamed for the ill-fated

Mamasapano clash The Mamasapano clash was a shootout that took place during a police operation by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 25, 2015, in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, then-undivided Maguindanao (which is now ...

but earned praise as a man of principle and a true leader of the people.

Education

Napeñas graduated in the

Philippine Military Academy The Philippine Military Academy ( fil, Akademiyang Militar ng Pilipinas / es, Academia Militar de Filipinas) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of ...

in 1982. He was one of the officers who was part of the initial batch of officers of the PC SAF, which became the PNP SAF, when it was created May 16, 1983. He was the commander of the Philippine Police Contingent to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and he was also one of top of his class and training in special action force. Napeñas then served as chief directorial staff and deputy director of SAF before he was designated as director of the Police Regional Office in the Caraga region in January 2012. He also took master's degree in business administration (1995) in the

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (from 'University of the City of Manila', abbreviated as PLM) is a city-government-funded local university situated inside the historic walled area of Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. It was established on ...

and master's degree in public administration (1998) in AMA Computer College (now

AMA Computer University AMA Computer University, also known as AMA University or simply AMA, is a private, nonsectarian, for-profit higher education institution in Quezon City, Philippines. AMA is currently the largest information technology and computer education sy ...

Police career

Napeñas became commander of SAF in December 2013 after replacing Carmelo Valmoria, who was appointed chief of the National Capital Region Police Office. In January 2015, the Mamasapano clash resulted to the death of 44 SAF commandos in gun battles with guerrillas from the

Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, is an Islamist militant organization based in Mindanao, the Philippines. It is a smaller player in the overall Moro insurgency in the Phili ...

(BIFF) and the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...

(MILF). The SAF operation was intended to arrest terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir (also known as Marwan), a Malaysian bomb maker, and Filipino terrorist Basit Usman. Marwan was killed during the operation and Usman escaped but was later killed by Moro rebels. As commander, he took full responsibility for the incident while others consider him as a scapegoat. Former President Ramos considered him a "patriot" and "brave" enough to accept the blame. As a result of the Mamasapano clash, Napeñas was relieved from his position and later retires. He ran for Senator under the

United Nationalist Alliance The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA; ) is a political party in the Philippines. It was created as a multi-party electoral alliance replacing the former United Opposition (UNO) coalition for the 2013 midterm elections, before it was launche ...

in the

2016 Elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 1 ...

but did not receive one of the 12 seats. Napeñas said his main platform focuses on peace and order and the welfare of police and armed forces, as well as other men in uniform. He also told reporters that he decided to run for senator to get justice for the slain police commandos. His candidacy was supported by various groups and was endorsed by Manila Mayor

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Napenas, Getulio 1959 births People from La Union Living people Filipino police chiefs Philippine Military Academy alumni United Nationalist Alliance politicians Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila alumni