Senate probes media 'role' in hostage tragedy

The Senate committees on public information and mass media and public services on Tuesday began its hearing on the 'role' of the broadcast media during the August 23 hostage tragedy. Senator Gregorio Honasan, who heads the committee on public information, said the hearing aims to determine whether the broadcast media influenced the "ultimate action" of hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza and if there are protocols in place for media involvement during crisis situations. Present during the hearing were GMA Network's Assistant Vice President for News Grace Dela Peña Reyes, Vice President for News Programs Jessica Soho, and reporter Susan Enriquez; ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs head Maria Ressa; and TV5 News Operations head David Jude (DJ) Sta. Ana and Luchi Cruz Valdez. Also present were TV5 news anchor Erwin Tulfo and Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN) anchor Michael Rogas, who interviewed Mendoza during the crucial moments of the crisis which left eight Hong Kong nationals and the hostage-taker dead.

The inquiry was called based on Senator Joker Arroyo's manifestation that the Senate should probe how the broadcast media's actions affected the outcome of the hostage crisis. President Benigno Aquino III had earlier said that the media’s live coverage of the hostage incident “severely hampered" the efforts to rescue the hostages. Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo explained that the live coverage robbed police of the “element of surprise" in dealing with hostage-taker. He said at least three of the hostages said that the hostage-taker, a dismissed police officer, became agitated after seeing on a television set inside the bus he commandeered what was taking place outside during the rescue try. But Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., who heads the committee on public services, said they did not call for a Senate inquiry to "point fingers" but to make sure that such "untoward incidents" won't happen again. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV