EDITORIAL - Aftermath

The much-awaited decisions of President Aquino in connection with the Aug. 23 hostage fiasco were finally announced yesterday, with no surprises. Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno and retired national police chief Jesus Verzosa were let off the hook. There was no truth to rumors – or perhaps someone changed his mind – about Palace plans to include Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo in the rap sheet.

Malacañang did not recommend criminal charges against anyone. This was in contrast to the proposal of the incident investigation and review committee to pursue criminal and administrative cases against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who chaired the city’s crisis management committee, and the police ground commander during the incident, Manila police director-on-leave Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay. IIRC members said they were standing by their findings and recommendations but respected the position of the President and the outcome of the review process.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government, but Ambassador Liu Jianchao had earlier expressed hopes that the two countries could move on. Yesterday Liu told a gathering of businessmen that tourists from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong would need reassurance about their personal safety in the Philippines. That is just one of the measures that must be given priority in the wake of the hostage incident. The measures must be undertaken not just to reassure foreigners that the Philippines is a safe place to visit, but also to keep everyone in this country safe. This will entail, among other things, an upgrading of the skills and equipment of the Philippine National Police, the inadequacy of which was glaringly evident during the hostage crisis.

In the aftermath of the fiasco, an equally appalling development was the difficulty of pinpointing responsibility for the botched response to the hostage incident. No single official seemed to be in full control, with orders coming from different directions. This cannot happen again.

Within mass media there is soul-searching over the incident, although this is no guarantee that the same coverage will not be repeated in the next major hostage incident.

The crisis arose from the weakness of the grievance mechanism in the PNP, which could also be the case throughout the government. It is not impossible to correct this deficiency. As in every crisis, there are lessons to be learned from the Aug. 23 tragedy. The PNP must emerge a better police force and the nation stronger as a result.