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Aquino won't change decision on IIRC report to please HK

By JAM SISANTE, GMANews.TV

Despite the Hong Kong government's dissatisfaction, President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III will not change his actions on the report of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) on the August 23 hostage tragedy. At a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, Aquino said his decision to order the filing of mostly only administrative charges against those involved in the incident was based on a review of pertinent laws. "That (Hong Kong's reaction) I think is a very flimsy reason to amend the courses of action we have decided upon," Aquino said. "This is not whimsical. We had a review of pertinent laws." "We tried to find whether said laws were applicable to the people accused of failing to do their duties and various other things. This is the sum total of the collective wisdom of everybody who participated in the review. We believe this is the proper course of action and this will be the one that will prosper," said the president. The Hong Kong government said on Tuesday night that it was disappointed with Aquino's decision not to heed all of the recommendations of the IIRC, which recommended sanctions against more than 10 individuals involved in the hostage crisis wherein eight Chinese tourists from Hong Kong, as well as hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza, were killed. Aquino ordered the filing of administrative charges only against four police officials, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, and Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzalez III. Only the hostage-taker's brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza, will be held criminally liable for illegal possession of firearms and serious illegal detention. Aquino decided not to pursue the recommended charges against his long-time friend Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, retired Philippine National Police Jesus Verzosa, Manila Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno, broadcasters Michael Rogas and Erwin Tulfo, and broadcast stations ABS-CBN, GMA, and TV 5. He said the factors considered by the Palace legal team in its decision were:

  • the facts enumerated in the IIRC report;
  • the possible criminal, and administrative sanctions that could be imposed under the law, and
  • whether the cases to be filed will prosper. In Thursday's press conference, Aquino said the only thing that can be done to assuage Hong Kong is to "explain exactly how the decision was arrived at," including limitations under Philippine laws and system of governance. "At the end of the day, this report, this fact finding commission serves the interest of the Filipino people primarily," said the president. Aquino was a little vague when asked about the veracity of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) report "From Day 1, PNoy wanted to save Lim, Puno, Verzosa." The PCIJ said Aquino wanted to clear the three officials — some of his most trusted officials and allies — even before he had read the full IIRC report recommending sanctions against them. "I may have discussed about Puno, I may have asked if Puno is being accused of this, does this not also fall that [Interior Secretary Jesse] Robredo would also be in the same situation being more directly named by the manual," Aquino said. He said that upon examining and discussing the crisis management manual, they found that the hostage situation was a local crisis which should have been primarily dealt with by the local crisis management committee and not necessarily by national officials like Puno and Robredo. A high-level delegation of Philippine officials led by Vice-President Jejomar Binay is expected to fly to China to present and explain the Philippine government's actions on the hostage probe. However, a final date for the trip has yet to be set. –VVP, GMANews.TV
    • Tags: manilahostagecrisis
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