DILG chief assures 'due process' in cases vs Mayor Lim, police

The government will stand pat in observing "due process" amid constant pressure to resolve administrative cases against personalities implicated in the Aug. 23, 2010 Manila hostage crisis, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said Tuesday. Robredo said the administrative case filed against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has already been "submitted for resolution" by the Department of Interior and Local Government’s Legal Service. "We had just terminated the hearings. Sinubmit na lahat [for resolution]," Robredo told reporters during a Mass to commemorate the first anniversary of the hostage-taking incident. Lim, along with other police officials, was criticized for the handling of the hostage-taking fiasco that ultimately ended in a deadly firefight between authorities and hostage-taker Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza. At the end of the 11-hour standoff, eight tourists — all from Hong Kong — were killed, along with Mendoza. Lim, who acted as head of the local crisis management committee, was criticized for even eating out at a nearby restaurant, away from the incident site at the Quirino Grandstand, while figuring out how to resolve the hostage drama. Apart from Lim, five police officials were slapped with charges before the National Police Commission, of which Robredo is the chairman. Of the five charged officials, only the case against ex-National Capital Region Police Office head Director Leocadio Santiago had been resolved. He was sanctioned with an 11-day suspension last March. After serving his suspension, Santiago was named chief of the Philippine National Police's Directorate for Operations, which is a higher position compared to his previous post. Remaining pending are the cases against:

• then-Manila Police District head Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay,
• hostage negotiator Superintendent Orlando Yebra,
• MPD Special Weapons and Tactics unit commander Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual, and
• the hostage-taker’s brother, SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza.

Robredo appealed for a little more time for the other remaining cases to be resolved. “Hindi naman ho dahil may pressure for us to act on it immediately [we] will dispense with the due process," he said. Stressing that all individuals are entitled to due process, Robredo said: “Whether he is a foreign national, whether he is a local there, is always a requirement for due process." — JE/RSJ, GMA News