Donell Martti M.

Dangilan
J.D. 4104
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Final Exam: Lie spotting in Mamasapano speech
The speech of our Honorable President Benigno Aquino III is the subject
of this paper. The expressions on how he delivered his speech
remained constant until I saw some indicators that we may conclude
he is lying. This is the link of the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m93LXu_Qs7g&feature=youtu.be
These are time based on my observations that I may conclude that our
President Aquino is not telling the truth:
7:04-7:28 Actionable intelligence po ang nakalap ng ating
awtoridad, hindi lamang rehiyon, probinsya o munisipyo ang
natukoy nila kundi ang mismong mga bahay na pinagtataguan
ng dalawa. Kung hindi aaksyonan ang kaalaman na ito maaaring
makatakas sila Marwan at Usman at kakailanganin nanaman ang
mahabang proseso ng paghahanap sa kanila. Mr. President
Aquino had a constant tone during the first few minutes of his
speech but I observed that his tone changes when he delivered
this particular statement, that the authority already knew the
whereabouts of Marwan and Usman. In the contrary, this may
just mean that he is stressing that the authority had a great
intelligence report, however, what qualifies it is that he his blink
rates somehow changes and also his muscle pattern. His blink
rates changes from constant 2-3 seconds before another blink to
1-2 seconds or 2-4 seconds depending on the movement of his
head from left to right or right to left; his muscle pattern has also

changed, his constant movement of his head about 5-6 seconds

of moving left to right, or vice versa, to 4-5 seconds before he
shifts his head again to left or to right, and also the movement of
his body when he suddenly moves his shoulder a bit whenever
he change the position of his head, this may indicate that he is
lying, indeed, if the authority knew this long time before the
Mamasapano clash, he and his government would have a better
plan.
7:29-8:00 Pasado alas kwatro ng umaga ng ligon ng umabot ang
Special Action Force sa kutang pinagtataguan nina Marwan at
Usman. Sa nangyaring engkwentro, di umanoy napatay ang
pangunahing target na si Marwan, ng marinig ang putukan
nanglaban naman si Usman at ang kanyang mga kasamahan.
May mga non-combatant po na nakita sa tirahan nina Marwan at
Usman, kinailangan na talagang dikitan sila ng ating pwersa para
maiwasan madamay ang mga inosente. Yet again, the tone of
Mr. President has changed compared to the first few minutes. He
made a pause when he said special action force, although it
that phrase does not indicate a lie, however it may be considered
a clue that he was lying, the sudden change of his jaw movement
in speaking was clearly seen during this time. He was stressing
that the SAF has to be with the non-combatants, to avoid injury
or death of the innocents, however, there may be proof that
some non-combatants were injured during the clash of the SAF
and rebels. So, by stressing this, he may have lied already.
8:01-8:21 Unang inatake ang bahay ni Marwan, rumesponde
naman si Usman at nawala ang element of surprise na siyang
magpapahirap ng matupad ang kanilang misyon. Kaya naman
minabuti ng SAF na umatras at makipagrendezvous sa mga

kasamahan nilang nagbabantay ng kanilang daraanan papalabas

ng kanilang lugar ng engkwentro. Another clue that I observed
during this time was when he paused and inhale, one clue of
detecting when someone is lying is timing, his facial along with
his vocal expression were a more different this time, his
statement that the SAF retreated to regroup again, that would
mean that there should be no SAF left in the battlefield. I strongly
believed that the 44 SAF men who died during the encounter
were ordered by their general/commander or any other ground
commander head to have clash with the rebels, since the latter
are in pursuit of the other SAF members, in other words, it was a
suicide mission for them since they cannot refuse to the
command of their chief. Anyway, the Mr. President has shown
some of these clues that we might consider his statement was a
lie. The blink of his eyes has changed again, about 5-6 seconds
before he blink his eyes again as compared to his constant
blinking on the first few minutes of the video.
11:00-11:47 Ang problema po dito, nagkalat sa ibat-ibang lugar
ang mga kasapi ng batalyong ito, na nagbabantay sa main
supply root sa lugar na ito. Sa madaling salita dikit na sa oras
ang engkwentro at abiso at mahirap masabi kung nagkaroon ng
sapat na panahon upang ihanda ang ayuda kung kakailanganin,
kung may compliance po sa nangyari sa atas na sisiguruhin kong
may sapat na koordinasyon parang sinagad po itong very
minimum compliance, nagulat nga po akong malaman na ang
pinuno ng Western Mindanao Command or maski nang Sixth
Infantry Division ay tila naabisuhan lamang matapos ang unang
engkwentro laban kila Marwan at Usman. Palabas na ang pwersa
ng SAF, at nagkaroon na ng problema sa puntong ito. Clearly,
Mr. President was defensive, he was careful of blaming officers

by saying their names, instead, he kept on saying that the there

was lack/ poor f coordination with the other military troops,
instead of saying that there was negligence on his part and
others. His statement during this time was delivered a bit
different, his actions also changed, whenever he shifts his head
to right, its a bit more elevated compared earlier. The tone of his
voice changed when he is comparing the coordination to a
minimum compliance coordination, and that he was shocked
when the Sixth Infantry Division was merely advised to the first
encounter, of course, as a Chief Commanding Officer of the
Armed Forces, you have the responsibility during those
Mamasapano clash to consider all the circumstances that may
arise, since the President has the power to administer the Armed
Forces, he has to make sure that all informations, regarding the
plan he may have in his mind and in the minds of the officers of
the Armed Forces, are well disseminated.
18:04-18:29 Ang mas maganda siguro na imbes pag-usapan
natin ang tungkol sa MILF na palagay ko ay lalabas sa Board of
Inquiry, siguro dapat tukuyin muna natin yung mismong pwersa
natin, na di umano na bagamat ilang beses nating pinagbilinan
yung tamang koordinasyon sa AFP ay dapat nandoon ay hindi
nangyari. So hintayin natin yung resulta sa Board of Inquiry
(cough) para lang malaman ang buong katotohanan. The
President, instead of answering the question, he merely gave a
directive to just wait for the result of the Board of Inquiry
regarding its investigation on the matter. It was shown in the
video that his eyes werent looking to the guy who asked the
question. And why cant he just answer the simple question
asked, although it is a matter of privacy of the Government to
answer depending on the degree of the question asked, but the
question asked was not that highly confidential. Since the

President opted not to answer the simple question, the 10th clue
of lie spotting is instinct. The viewers instinct may be
disregarded if made without basis, but the Presidents statement
clearly shows that his actions were different compared earlier,
his movement of the muscles of his mouth in answering the
question was also different, it was a micro-expression of the
President that lead to my conclusion that he was lying.
18:54-19:13 Namomoblema akong sagutin iyang katanungan
mong yan dahil wala pa akong facts, aakusahan kong isang
grupo na wala akong tanging ebidensya, kaya sinasabi ko nga na
antayin natin ang resulta nitong Board of Inquiry, matutukoy
kung sino ang pumaslang ditto sa ating mga troops, na may
katiyakan na ayon sa atin proseso para bago tayo mag-akusa ay
meron tayong sufficient na ebidensya. Another defensive
answer of Mr. President, he may answer the question based on a
situation, and not on factual evidence, since he has the
knowledge of the mission as he Chief Commanding Officer of
the Armed Forces, he should have given an answer to the
viewers to enlighten them as to what really happened based on
his point of view, and no need of the result of the Board of
Inquiry in answering a simple question. He was shifting the
ground of proof to the Board, that he is innocent of what
happened and he may not be held guilty of the negligence
casued by him. In applying the clue, his head was slightly tilted
to the right and he was not looking directly to guy who asked the
question, his hands were bit shaking and it can be shown that he
was holding his other hand tightly (left over right). This clearly
shows that the President is avoiding answers that may lead the
public to criticize him regarding the Mamasapano Clash, and he,
clearly deceived the public that he does not know any facts

regarding the same. Clearly, the Presidents response shows that

he does not want to answer the question, probably, hes playing
safe, that he do not want to discuss whose fault is it.
24:46-25:08 So dito yung sa go ahead, parang, matagal na yang
may go ahead, siguro in reverse, pag alam niyong andyan may
kakayahan kayong arestohin hindi niyo inaresto meron konsepto
sa batas na nonfeasance eh, hindi mo ginawa yung tungkulin mo.
So matagal nang tuloy-tuloy na hinahap ng Gobyerno natin itong
mga terorista. The President kept on saying that the
Government, even before he was elected in the position, was
already in pursuit of these terrorists, thereby, he was not
answering directly or indirectly the question of the woman. Mr.
President grinned when stated his answer and even make a
gesture of through his hands, and also making circles using his 2
thumbs (left over right), this are just mere indicators, these does
not prove that he lied, however, as I observed when he was
stating his answer, he was getting away with the question, on
who gave the order, he even gave a situation about
nonfeasance, that a person has the duty to arrest a person, and
in case he did not, he shall be liable for the consequence that
should be due to him. His eyebrows, while answering, was
somewhat elevated, it maybe considered as the change in his
expression by grinning his, and then suddenly goes back to
normal again.

As I observed the whole video, there were a lot of changes in the

expression of the President in delivering his speech regarding the
Mamasapano Clash, it was quite hard to spot a lie. In spotting a lie, you
must be very careful in observing the every actions, gesture,

expressions, etc. of the speaker, you must consider all factors which
may guide you to spot whether the speaker is telling the truth or not.
The points I consider, in this video that the President have made that
lead to my belief that he was lying are, the movement of his jaw,
blinking of his eyes, the expressions of his face, the tone of his voice
from constantly normal to a sudden change, the movement of his head
to left or to right, the gesture he made while delivering his speech, the
answers he made during the Q&A part, position of his shoulder, when
he tilted his head to right when a guy asked him a question. All of
these might be a common gesture, however, by understanding it more
deep on how to spot a lie, it would be best if you can consider this little
actions, gesture, expressions, etc. of the speaker.