Lim denies having full control of MPD during Aug. 23 hostage

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim denied yesterday that he was in full control of the police during the hostage-taking incident at Rizal Park in Manila last Aug. 23 where eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage taker were killed.

Lim clarified that he was also not fully informed of developments during the hostage crisis.

He said that relieved Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, the on-scene commander in charge of operations, never talked to him.

Lim said that he only learned that the hostage taker, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, offered to release the hostages, handcuff himself and get out of the bus voluntarily the moment he gets his reinstatement, when assistant negotiator Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador testified before the Department of Justice (DOJ).  

Lim said he would have given Mendoza such reinstatement orders had the information been relayed to him. 

President Aquino had ordered the filing of administrative charges against Lim, Magtibay, relieved National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Leocadio Santiago, chief negotiator Superintendent Orlando Yebra Jr., Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, head of the MPD Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, and Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III.

Mr. Aquino ordered the filing of criminal charges against the hostage taker’s brother, Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza, for allegedly aiding the suspect.

Malacañang’s legal team headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. referred to the House of Representatives “for appropriate action” the case of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

The hostage taker was reportedly enraged by Gutierrez’s not being clear about acting on his demand for reinstatement in the police force.

The President exonerated Interior and Local Government Secretary Rico Puno, retired Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno.

“The participation of Moreno appears to be limited to being the liaison between the negotiators/CMC (crisis management committee) and the Office of the Ombudsman. It does not appear that he was officially one of the decision makers of the CMC and, hence, it is not clear if he had any obligation to remain in the Luneta PCP (police community precinct),” said the Palace review team.

TV-5 anchor and RMN reporter Erwin Tulfo and reporter/anchor Mike Rogas have also been cleared but were reprimanded for reportedly interfering in police work.

The Manila mayor said he is fully aware that the local crisis management committee’s role was confined to purely staff functions and the formulation of guidelines and policies during barricaded and hostage situations, while the operations lie on the shoulder of the critical incident management task force headed by Magtibay.

“I also learned that there were orders, issued three times, to use the special action force in case of an assault only after the incident,” Lim added.

Lim said the statements made by Magtibay pointing to him as the one giving orders during the incident are nothing but an “afterthought.”

The mayor expressed confidence that the truth will bear him out in the end, especially since he has witnesses to prove who is telling the truth and who is not.

On Magtibay’s statement that the order to handcuff Mendoza’s brother Gregorio was the tipping point that messed up the situation, Lim clarified that his order was meant merely to immobilize Gregorio and was prompted by negotiator Yebra’s report that he will have Gregorio charged as a conspirator after he incensed his brother by saying that his gun had not been returned.

Lim said he now regrets that he took back the order to handcuff Gregorio.

The incident investigative and review committee (IIRC) had earlier recommended the filing of appropriate charges against Lim, Magtibay, Puno, Verzosa, Santiago, Yebra, and Pascual.

Also included were Ombudsman Gutierrez and Deputy Ombudsman Gonzales, and Vice Mayor Moreno. 

The panel also recommended the filing of charges against broadcasters Tulfo and Rogas. The IIRC also found liable the executives of the country’s three biggest television networks, ABS-CBN Channel 2, GMA-7 and ABC TV-5. Magtibay earlier went on leave while five other police officers were relieved because of their hesitation and lapses during the assault on the tourist bus where dismissed policeman Mendoza held the tourists hostage.

Mendoza, who was dismissed from the police force last year for extortion, commandeered last Aug. 23 a Hong Thai Travel tourist bus in Intramuros and held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipino guides for several hours in front of the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park. – With Non Alquitran, Mike Frialde