Palace OK with De Lima's meeting with Manila hostage crisis survivors

President Benigno Aquino III has not given any directive to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima regarding her possible meeting with the families of the foreign victims as well as the survivors of the Aug. 23, 2010 Manila hostage crisis, where eight Hong Kong tourists were killed. “There were no directives given. The important thing is for the Secretary of Justice to meet with them," said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda at a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday. Lacierda added that he believes De Lima will be able to explain to the families of the victims what the Philippine government has done regarding the alleged bungling of the rescue operation by local law enforcers. “We all know what we have done and so, I think, on the part of government, we will be informing them of what we have been trying to do to address the situation," he said. Earlier in the day, De Lima said the survivors and relatives of the victims in the hostage taking incident will arrive in Manila next week, and that they are requesting for a meeting between August 22 and 24. She said she is inclined to heed the request. De Lima and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo headed the government fact-finding team — the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) — that looked into the circumstances that led to the tragedy, which caused a rift between China and the Philippines. Lacierda, on Thursday’s briefing, said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) legal service is now reviewing and evaluating the memorandum submitted by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim on the administrative charges for simple neglect and misconduct filed against him. He said the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Office meted National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Leocadio Santiago with 11-day suspension from the police service after he was found liable for simple neglect of duty. Lacierda said DILG and the national police have been implementing “Bantay Turista," which sets the police operational guidelines to protect and ensure the safety of foreign and local tourists and maintain peace and order in all tourist destinations. He added that the DILG has also been implementing procurement reforms to ensure that the equipment and other logistics support being purchased or to be purchased correspond to the actual needs of the recipient police units. “The reason why we are laying out all the details of what we have done is to inform not only our own public but also the people in Hong Kong that we have been taking seriously the concerns and the recommendations of the IIRC and I think this is the best way to address or assuage their concerns—it’s to let them know that we have taken seriously the recommendations of the IIRC as well as their concerns," Lacierda said. - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News