HK disappointed over review of IIRC report

MANILA, Philippines - The Hong Kong government has expressed disappointment over the Philippine government’s “lessened actions” against the officials who should be held accountable for the Aug. 23 hostage tragedy.

Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region (SAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang issued a statement saying the people of Hong

Kong expected a more serious move against the officials involved in the Aug. 23 hostage fiasco.

“Hong Kong people expect the Philippine government to handle the question of responsibility of the officials and persons involved in a fair manner, and follow through the required actions seriously,” Tsang said.

 He said the Philippine government instead decided to lessen the recommended actions against the officials named liable by the incident investigation and review committee (IIRC). 

“The people of Hong Kong, especially the survivors and the victims’ families, will find this hard to accept. The Hong Kong SAR government is also disappointed,” Tsang said.

He said the Hong Kong government had pointed out that the Philippine government owes “accountability” to the hostage victims and survivors. 

“The eventual actions to be taken against the persons involved must live up to their pledge to be accountable to the public. That is also what is owed to the dead and the injured. We will convey our views to the Philippine government through proper channels,” the statement said. 

The Hong Kong government also urged Philippine authorities to complete the investigation into the causes of death of the eight victims.

“We hope the Philippine government will make public their findings as soon as possible. As far as we understand, the Review Committee of the Philippines will in due course submit a second report on the review of the mechanism and procedures of handling similar incidents. We hope the report will come up with concrete improvement measures to avoid recurrence of such tragedies,” the statement continued.

Chinese embassy Deputy Chief of Political Section and spokesman Sun Yi said the embassy received a copy of Malacañang’s review of the IIRC report.

“The Chinese side looks forward to effective measures to be taken by the Philippine side to address the related issues concerning the incident in an earnest and appropriate manner,” Sun said.

Asked if China was also disappointed with the results of the review, Sun said, “It is totally up to the Philippine side to take measures accordingly.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippines respects the sentiment of the Hong Kong SAR government.

President Aquino, on the other hand, said he would issue an official statement as soon as he receives the letter from the Hong Kong government.

“As soon as we receive the letter, we will respond (to it),” he said.

At the same time, Mr. Aquino maintained that only administrative charges should be slapped on the officials involved in the botched hostage rescue attempt, with the exception of SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza who is facing illegal possession of firearms charges.

Mr. Aquino justified the administrative sanctions against the seven officials, four of them police officers. 

“Otherwise, we will just be filing frivolous cases that we know will be dismissed in the end. To be charged criminally, there has to be a law that was violated," he stressed.

Mr. Aquino had called for minor charges against police and government officials singled out by a high-level inquiry as responsible for the fiasco.

Mr. Aquino declared he is determined to revive tourism in the country and bring back foreign visitors who have stayed away after eight Hong Kong residents were killed in the hostage crisis.

“Now, in tourism in particular, we are the laggards as far as Southeast Asia is concerned. We have a three-million tourist population that comes in compared to Malaysia’s 22 million and Thailand’s 14 million,” Mr. Aquino said. 

“There are so many areas of the country that can be exploited but are not accessible," he said, pledging to increase state funding to improve roads and airports. 

The Philippine National Police (PNP) also pledged increased protection for tourists.

PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said the numbers of special tourist protection units assigned to top tourist draws would be boosted to deter criminals. 

“In coordination with tourism authorities, (police are) fielding more police personnel to man these Special Tourist Protection Units as preemptive measure against crime syndicates that prey on foreign and local tourists,” he said. Bacalzo said these units would operate in major tourist destinations including Baguio, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Tagaytay and Davao. Bacalzo said police have been giving seminars in parts of the country with relatively large tourist or expatriate populations to educate members of the public on personal security measures. With Delon Porcalla, Pia Lee-Brago