Executive Secretary: Palace decision on IIRC report will be fair

Personalities and politics will not influence President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's final decision on who will be sanctioned for the mishandling of the August 23 hostage crisis, a Palace official said. The assurance was made by Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. on Friday. Aong with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa, Ochoa was tasked by the president to review the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) recommendations. “The president has always been fair and he will decide on the merits of this case, and not on the personalities or politics involved. He will make a decision that will satisfy the demands of justice, not the demands of political expediency," Ochoa said in a statement. Among the personalities that the IIRC recommended for sanctioning is Aquino's longtime friend and shooting buddy, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno. As undersecretary for peace and order, Puno was in charge of the Philippine National Police which is accused of poorly handling the August 23 hostage tragedy. On that day, a dismissed senior police inspector, Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. At the end of an 11-hour standoff, Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed. Aquino himself has assured that he can be trusted to punish those who should be held liable for the bloody outcome of the crisis. However, he said he will not decide on the resignation that Puno will file next week until the Palace's legal review has come out. Ochoa said the Palace's lawyers will help the president understand the legal nuances of the IIRC report. “Our people have entrusted the President with the task of upholding the Constitution and enforcing our laws. His job in this case is to see to it that justice is done, and unjustly sanctioning people left and right to satisfy the public’s desire to see heads roll is as big an injustice as letting those responsible for this tragic incident go scot-free," said Ochoa. Malacañang has so far released only the fact-finding portion of the IIRC report. Aquino has said the Palace will release the actual text containing the recommendations later, along with the findings of Palace legal experts' review. Aquino, who has been in the United States since Tuesday morning (Manila time), has said he expects the offices of Ochoa and De Mesa to finish its review by the time he arrives on September 28. "It's possible that I may subscribe to the entirety, I may add to the recommendations, I may diminish some of the actions," said the president. –VVP, GMANews.TV