Manila city hall employees wear black armbands in protest vs. IIRC report

Employees of the Manila City Hall wore black ribbons and armbands on Monday in protest against the hostage probe report which held Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim liable for the mishandling of the August 23 hostage crisis. Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo said the employees, along with barangay officials in the city, questioned the findings of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), a multi-agency probe body headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Mateo reported that the employees expressed full support for Lim during the flag ceremony at the Manila City Hall on Monday. Lim was one of those held liable by the IIRC which investigated 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. Mendoza was demanding for his reinstatement and the dismissal of a pending case against him in the Office of the Ombudsman. However, after an 11-hour standoff, Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed. IIRC report The IIRC submitted its report to President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III on September 17. Malacañang made public portions of the report on September 20, after providing the Chinese embassy with a copy of the report. Even though the IIRC has not yet been fully disclosed to the public, Aquino and De Lima have already bared the personalities who are recommended for administrative and/or criminal proceedings, and/or disciplinary sanctions. Aside from Lim, these are:

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno;

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez;

Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III;

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno;

Former Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa;

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago;

Manila Police District chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay (on leave);

Superintendent Orlando Yebra, chief negotiator during the hostage crisis;

Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, head of the MPD-SWAT team;

RMN (Radyo Mo Nationwide) anchor Michael Rogas and Erwin Tulfo;

DZXL station manager;

Television networks ABS-CBN, GMA-7, and TV5.

The DZBB report quoted employees who said the IIRC should have taken into consideration that the other Hong Kong tourists were rescued. The report said Lim was not available for an interview with media as he was meeting with his lawyers. –VVP, GMANews.TV