Cops, journalists discuss pitfalls in handling hostage takings, bombings

MANILA, Philippines - Members of media and police officers of the Southern Police District attended Friday a seminar aimed at creating awareness about the nature of each other’s jobs in crucial incidents like that of bombing or hostage-taking.

Senior Superintendent Federico Castro Jr., deputy district director for operations, said police officers and journalits can prevent a repeat of the mistakes in the Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking last year and the Makati bus bombing in January.

For one, Castro said, the lack of awareness led to the contamination of the Makati bus bombing crime site. He said police failed to properly cordon off the area. Journalists, politicians, and onlookers were all over the crime scene after a bomb ripped through a passenger bus along EDSA on Jan. 25.

Castro said rescue workers were wrong to bring the dead to the hospital.

“If the person is dead there is no need to move the body any more because it affects the investigation,” he said. “Some of the persons brought to the hospital were already dead and some (pieces of) evidence gathered were found in the body of the victims.”

The seminar participants noted the same problem months earlier, when Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza held hostage a busload of Hong Kong tourists. Police again failed to properly cordon off the area, politicians and onlookers were everywhere, and the media were covering the event live. This gave Mendoza, who has a television in the bus, a blow-by-blow account of what was happening.

Guest speaker Chief Inspector Silverio Dollesin of the Philippine Bomb Data Center asked journalists to understand why they are herded in one area while the crime scene is being examined.

Dollesin said even post-blast scenes are very sensitive – investigators had to undergo “swabbing” before they can enter the site just to avoid contamination. He told police to immediately secure a place where members of media can take snapshots and footage of the crime scene.

Senior Superintendent James Bucayu, deputy district director for administration, reminded journalists they are not barred from covering hostage-takings “but please don’t air it live so that the element of surprise against the hostage-taker will not be preempted.”

Journalists at the seminar acknowledged the request but called on the police to apply the same restrictions to “grandstanding politicians.”

“Sometimes, when their mayors enter the picture the police would forget that they are handling crime incidents,” said one radio reporter.

Castro agreed, even as he reminded SPD members to “stick to the police operational procedures.”

“If they will allow the politicians to enter the scene they can be held liable,” Castro said, adding “nobody should be allowed to enter the police line without proper approval, even the (Philippine National Police chief).”

The event was attended by current and acting chiefs of police of the six cities and a town under the SPD, the heads of their public information office, and the district officials.