Labor chief apologizes for false report on Angelo’s release

Mea culpa.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas assumed responsibility and apologized to the public yesterday for falsely announcing last Saturday night the release of Filipino worker Angelo de la Cruz by Iraqi militants.

But with the blunder already done, President Arroyo can only borrow the now famous "Shut up!" line of former opposition congressman Didagen Dilangalen in reminding her Cabinet officials not to be too hasty in making pronouncements on the hostage crisis.

While the President has not put this directive bluntly, members of her official family have kept their traps shut.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye admitted a "news blackout" has been imposed on negotiations surrounding the captivity of De la Cruz, whose family has gone through an emotional roller coaster after conflicting news on their loved one’s fate.

"We’re supposed to be observing a news blackout for now," Bunye told The STAR yesterday.

Reliable sources revealed Sto. Tomas and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales got some serious tongue-lashing from the President following the snafu.

Gonzales was quoted in the media that same night as having supposedly confirmed De la Cruz’s freedom.

Sto. Tomas could do nothing but apologize. She was sent yesterday by the President to Jordan to accompany De la Cruz’s wife and his sister in appealing for the driver’s freedom.

"I’m really sorry for that. So from now on, I will not talk about the release (of De la Cruz)," the labor chief said in a phone-patch interview with radio station dzBB.

"That’s why we are here now so that we will be closer to the information rather than get them through channels," she said.

Sto. Tomas and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman were with the De la Cruz family at Clark Mimosa in their home province of Pampanga when news of the supposed release of the Filipino hostage broke Saturday night.

It turned out to be false. The Iraqi militants extended yesterday their deadline to another 48 hours for the government to pull out Filipino forces by July 20, or De la Cruz would be beheaded.

As early as Friday, the President herself has appealed for understanding and cooperation from the media as the Philippine government cannot share certain information due to the "sensitivity" and "critical" situation of the hostage crisis.

Iraqi militants snatched De la Cruz, a truck driver for a Saudi Arabian company, last Wednesday near troubled Fallujah.

His captors earlier imposed a 72-hour deadline, threatening to decapitate him if Manila did not pull out its 51-member military and humanitarian force from Iraq.

The Arroyo government is so far not budging from its stand to withdraw the troops in August, as scheduled. The Iraqi militants may have lengthened the deadline but the threat looms larger now and prolongs the agony of De la Cruz and his family.

The Palace is not taking any chances and will continue to impose the "news blackout."

Reached by The STAR for the latest developments in the negotiations, Gonzales replied: "We are not supposed to be saying anything."

But citing information from "intelligence sources from Baghdad," Gonzales said all he can reveal was that De la Cruz is "safe" for now.

"I checked his (De la Cruz’s) whereabouts, he’s okay. He’s alright," the national security adviser said.

But Gonzales is now heeding more strictly the President’s orders to refrain from giving any information out.

"The President said until he is in our hands, it’s not over yet," he said.

Sto. Tomas and Gonzales were among the members of the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS) - the body handling the hostage crisis situation in Iraq.— With Sandy Araneta, Mayen Jaymalin