DILG exec to fight possible criminal raps over hostage tragedy

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Rico Puno vowed Tuesday to fight criminal charges that may be lodged against him for the Aug. 23 Manila hostage tragedy. While Puno reserved comment on possible administrative charges against him, he said he will contest any criminal charge before the courts. "Tingnan ko muna kung anong mga charges. Kung criminal yan, dapat siguro labanan natin yan at i-prove natin sa korte. Kung administrative, tingnan natin kung anong ipapataw sa atin kung may neglect or what," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. (I want to see the charges first. If the charges are criminal I will contest them and I will prove my case in court. If they are administrative, I want to see their nature if they are due to negligence.) When asked about possible administrative sanctions, he said, "kung totoo ... tanggapin natin pero kung hindi man, lalabanan natin yan (if they are true, I will accept them, but if they are not, I will fight them)." On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III made public the findings of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee tasked to investigate the tragedy. Puno, one of those cited in the report, was appointed to supervise the Philippine National Police at the time of the hostage crisis. Eight Hong Kong tourists and their hostage-taker, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, were killed in the tragedy. — LBG, GMANews.TV