MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang declared yesterday it was time to move on after the administration had made its recommendations as to who should be charged in connection with the bungled rescue operation during the hostage crisis at Rizal Park in Manila where eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage taker were killed last Aug. 23.
There were reports that Chinese officials were dismayed with the recommendations after a marathon investigation and Hong Kong authorities are no longer interested to receive a high-level delegation from the Philippines that would present the report.
The move on the part of the Philippines was meant to salvage ties between Manila and Beijing as well as Hong Kong after the bungled rescue operation led to the death of eight Hong Kong tourists.
A Social Weather Stations survey, conducted on Sept. 24 to 27, also showed that 41 percent of Filipinos were dissatisfied with the performance of the Aquino administration in resolving the hostage crisis while 36 percent were satisfied.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said he could not comment on reports that Beijing had told the Department of Foreign Affairs that it could not accommodate the Philippine delegation to be headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Lacierda said though China and other sectors would have a different opinion on what the Palace had done, “they are entitled to that but we stand by, and the President stands by, the decision that he has made.”
He expressed belief that the issue would not strain relations between the Philippines and China.
“I believe so and they have already mentioned as much before, that this is an isolated incident and they should not put a damper on the relations between China and the Philippines,” Lacierda said.
As regards China’s reaction and the survey, Lacierda said: “We’ve done our best.”
“The decision has been made and the recommendations have been made. We stand by it and we will do our best and the most important thing is... the people have been focused on the pinpointing of liability, but as we have said also in our recommendations and the statement of the President that we are also going to do some improvement, for instance, we’re updating the crisis manual, we are setting up the situation room,” Lacierda added.
“These are the plans that are in place right now and what we intend to do to prevent a similar crisis from happening again or at least to make sure that a similar tragedy will not happen again in the future,” Lacierda said.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the Palace legal team maintained that they did whatever was legally possible.
“We made research and our analysis of the IIRC (incident investigation and review committee) report was very thorough. So I believe we’ve done our best in coming up with the modifications on the recommendations of the IIRC,” Ochoa said.
President Aquino had ordered the filing of administrative charges against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, relieved Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo 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 Ochoa 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 Undersecretary Rico Puno, retired Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno.
The Manila police chief 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
Senior Inspector Rolando 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 in Manila.
The suspect, armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol, had released several hostages before the SWAT team assaulted the bus resulting in the death of the hostage taker and eight tourists. Police hostage negotiators said Mendoza turned violent due to frustrations after failing to get his demand to be reinstated to the police force. Mendoza also started shooting the hostages when he saw on the television inside the bus, the live footage of his brother Gregorio being arrested.