DOJ chief mum on memo on HK's hostage probe

Justice Sec. Leila de Lima on Tuesday said she already sent to Malacañang her memorandum concerning Hong Kong’s request to have more than a hundred Filipino witnesses testify in its own inquiry into the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila. De Lima, however, refused to disclose the contents of the memorandum’s contents. “My memo is now being delivered to the Palace. Sorry, it’s a confidential memo," De Lima said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Hong Kong authorities are set to investigate the deaths of eight of its citizens who were held hostage by a disgruntled policeman inside a tourist bus in Manila on August 23. The hostage-taker, dismissed senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza, was killed in a police assault that ended the 11-hour standoff. MLAT De Lima had told reporters in earlier interviews that she would tell President Benigno Aquino III to invoke the country’s Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Hong Kong. The treaty will help protect Filipino witnesses from being prosecuted in a foreign country, said De Lima. The treaty will also compel Hong Kong to clarify the scope of the public inquiry to be conducted by Hong Kong’s Coroner’s Court, she added. She made the statement even as Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao assured the Philippine government that the investigation only aims to determine what really caused the victims’ deaths. - Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV