Verzosa wanted SAF to step in but Magtibay chose SWAT

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa apparently wanted the Special Action Force to step into the unfolding hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand area in Manila, but the Manila Police District (MPD) did not heed the police chief's request. National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago made the admission on Saturday during the second day of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) proceedings.
"The chief PNP expressed preference that the SAF should already be used," Santiago told members of the committee headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Asked if it could have already been considered an "order" coming from the PNP chief, Santiago said: "It was somewhat of an order." Santiago said Verzosa's sentiment that SAF units should be allowed to step in was "relayed down to the district police officials." Asked by De Lima why the MPD head, Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, insisted on using the MPD's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team instead of the SAF, Santiago said he didn’t know. In an earlier hearing at the Senate, Magtibay told senators he preferred the MPD SWAT because he thought it had enough capability to resolve the hostage crisis. The SWAT assault resulted in the killing of dismissed ex-police officer Rolando Mendoza, the hostage-taker, but eight of the hostages also died from gunshot wounds. The IIRC is still trying to establish which weapons had killed the hostages in the final hour of the crisis at the Quirino Grandstand. National concern Santiago admitted to the investigative panel that if he was “given the option," he would have chosen the PNP SAF units to overcome Mendoza and to rescue the hostages. However, Santiago stressed it was still the crisis management committee (CMC) and Magtibay as overall ground commander who called the shots during the crisis. Santiago clarified that the hostage-taking incident was actually considered a national concern, saying that other government officials' use of the word "localized" in the first day of the IIRC hearings on Friday was a "misnomer." Santiago said he considered the SAF, a highly specialized police force trained to deal with crisis situations and which he himself had commanded for several years, as being more superior, "more skilled and better equipped," than the SWAT team. Roan Libarios, panel member and Integrated Bar of the Philippine governor for Eastern Mindanao, again asked Santiago why the SAF was not used in the assault if the government considered the incident of national importance. Santiago clarified that use of the SAF is not automatic, but would depend on the needs of the SWAT, adding that the SAF was deployed in the area only as an "assistance" team. He said he dispatched his SAF team only at past 6 p.m., almost eight hours after the crisis began, because "I wanted them to be just at hand." Santiago said based on reports he received, no member of the deployed SAF units fired their weapons, except hurling two tear gas canisters at about 8:15 p.m. Superiority During the hearing, committee member Teresita Ang-See asked if Magtibay's belonging to an upper class over Santiago at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) could have been a factor in Santiago’s apparent reluctance to take the lead. "On official duties, the class membership in the academy does not come in. Maybe during private matters yes, but not on official duties," Santiago replied. Belonging to the PMA Class of 1978, Magtibay is considered an upper class official compared to Santiago, a member of PMA Class of 1979.—JV, GMANews.TV