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Sept 3, 2010
As gov’t probe on Luneta hostage case opens
PASAY CITY (PinoyNews) – The government’s interagency panel tasked to investigate the hostage-taking incident that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead should come up with a “fair and objective” conclusion since China has tied its financial assistance to the Philippines to the result of its probe.
Sen.Edgardo Angara made the statement amid reports that China has decided to withhold the granting of a “sizeable” amount of aid to the country until after Chinese officials are convinced of the result of the inter-agency investigation into the botched police operation to rescue the tourists taken hostage by dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza.This developed as Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila De Lima, who is also the chairperson of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), said that “it’s all systems go for the investigation of the hostage-taking incident last August 23.”
Philippine National Police officers light candles and offer prayers at the flower bedecked site where eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a nearly 12-hour bus hostage standoff on Aug. 23, 2010, involving a dismissed police officer, at Manila’s Rizal Park in the Philippines, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010. The “Mass for Peace and Nonviolence” was held as the Philippines worked to calm China’s outrage over the bloodshed.
President Benigno Aquino III ordered the IIRC to conduct an indepth investigation of the hostagetaking incident that claimed the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists, including the hostage-taker himself.
De Lima said that various personalities were invited to appear to shed light on the incident, the first set of which include DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno, PNP Chief Director General Jesus Verzosa,National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Chief Supt. Leocadio Santiago, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, police Supt. Orlando Yebra, and two other negotiators.
Also to be invited are the lady who dropped off and drove Mendoza to Fort Santiago and media personalities, two or three of them. “China announced that they will not release any single centavo of aid previously committed, nor extend anymore until the result of this investigation,” Angara said.
“Imbestigahin muna ng executive. Let them do it fairly and objectively. That is all that China is expecting. And China has tied its assistance to the result of an objective and fair investigation,” he said. “Natural ‘yun eh. Eleven hours nasa TV. Isa-isang pinapatay ang mga kababayan ko.Iyung Vice President nga (Vice Premier Li Keqiang), the Number 2 man, hindi darating (dito).
It’s not okay but it’s understandable,” Angara said. Sen.Ralph Recto said the China move “may be an over reaction but I can understand it.” He expressed hopes that the withholding of assistance will be temporary.
“I don’t think there’s any bullying there. Sila ‘yung tumutulong. Sila ang nagbibigay ng aid. Kung gusto nilang itigil, I don’t think that’s bullying. But moving forward I’m sure we will be able to bring back our relations with China. It is the biggest economy in the region and our very big neighbor at that. But like I said, I don’t think they will continue to suspend if they have done any suspension. But I think moving forward it is also to their interest to work together with the Philippines,” Recto said.
The IIRC is chaired by De Lima, with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo as vice-chair, with members Teresita Ang See, representing the Filipino-Chinese community; Herman Basbano, national president of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP); and Atty. Roan Libarios, representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
De Lima clarified that the investigation actually started on August 24, or a day after the hostage-taking incident in front of the Quirino Grandstand at Luneta Park, Manila. De Lima said that the investigation involved the Philippine National Police (PNP), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The initial and progress reports of these investigating agencies, De Lima said, will be collated and evaluated by the committee in order to come up with a comprehensive report and a recommendation to be submitted to President Aquino.
The committee, De Lima said, will come up with a position on what appropriate charges whether civil, criminal or administrative, will be filed against those who will be found liable. De Lima noted that invited are those personalities whose statements have been taken already by the NBI. Likewise, De Lima disclosed that two survivors of the hostage crisis are willing to be interviewed about their personal accounts of the incident.
However, De Lima did not divulge the names of the two survivors.De Lima said that she has instructed DOJ Undersecretary Jose Vicente “Jovee” Salazar to make the necessary arrangement for the Hong Kong trip of two NBI investigators and a special prosecutor to interview the two survivors. She said that the two survivors would help shed light on what really happened inside the bus, particularly on what went wrong when Mendoza started shooting the hostages.
De Lima noted that it appears that in the first few hours, there’s no tendency or indication of violence on the part of Mendoza, hence, what triggered the shooting. The investigation, De Lima said, will focus on the time when Mendoza commandeered the bus up to the time when he was felled by bullets. At the same time, De Lima said that when the investigation by the committee is on-going, there will be no sharing of information with Hong Kong authorities in order not to obliterate any misconception of interference.