Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo admitted on Tuesday that Philippine policemen lacked the skills and equipment needed to handle hostage situations like Monday's 11-hour bloody hostage drama where 10 people died, including the hostage-taker.
CHINESE FATALITIESThe Manila Police District (MPD) has so far identified eight tourists from Hong Kong who died on Monday's bloody hostage crisis in Manila:
Manila Doctors Hospital 1. Tse Ting Chung Masa, between 30 and 35 years old; 2. Fu Cheuk Yan, 39; 3. Leung Songyi, 16, alias 'Jessie;' and 4. Leung Yee Kam, 46.
Ospital ng Maynila (OSMA) 5. Keon Lung, between 40 and 45 year old; 6. Yeung Yee Wa , 45.
Philippine General Hospital (PGH) 7. Wong Tze Lam, 50.
San Juan De Dios Hospital 8. Leung Chung See, 20, alias 'Doris'. Robredo said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will focus on the police's lack of skills and equipment as the two agencies conduct a joint probe into the hostage-taking incident.
“Evidently, the police lack the proper equipment and the appropriate skills and training to handle these kinds of situations," said Robredo in a statement.
Monday's hostage drama was the handiwork of dismissed police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, who took over a tourist bus filled with 25 passengers, mostly Chinese nationals from Hong Kong.
The bloody siege ended in the death of Mendoza and nine of his hostages, with some of the remaining bus passengers ending up critically wounded - much to the dismay of the Hong Kong government.
Robredo said the task force would look into the possible "lapses and glitches" in the police operating procedures observed during the incident.
“The team shall look into all angles of the case – if there was a strategic and coordinated operations plan, if the rules of engagement were followed, if the areas was properly cordoned off from bystanders and the media," he said.
After the bus driver escaped and told police everyone had died inside the bus, police moved in and tried breaking into the vehicle using only a sledge hammer.
The joint investigating team was formed in light of President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III's order for the DILG and the DOJ "to thoroughly lead" the incident. Robredo said the body is eyeing to draw up recommendations to Aquino regarding the incident.
Robredo vowed to check allegations that police allegedly mishandled Mendoza's brother, SPO2 Gregorio, causing the suspect to get "agitated."
Police admit "defects"
Even the Philippine National Police (PNP), an attached agency under the DILG, admitted there were some "defects" in Monday's hostage-taking incident.
PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr said among these so-called defects that were observed were:
1) poor handling of the hostage negotiation;
2) side issues and events that further agitated the hostage-taker;
3) inadequate capability, skills, equipment and planning of the assault team;
4)improper crowd control, and inadequate training and competence of assault team leader; and
5) non-compliance to media relations procedures in hostage situations.
Meanwhile, it would be Gregorio's arrest that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) would be focusing on in its motu proprio human rights probe on the hostage crisis.
CHR Commissioner Jose Manuel Mamauag said they are looking into the possible "arbitrary arrest, forcible apprehension, and compulsion" of the hostage-taker's arrest.
Mendoza was believed to have started firing his first shots after seeing on a television inside the bus his brother being dragged away from the scene and arrested by the police
Robredo had already said he would meet with broadcasters to discuss media protocols because the live coverage of the incident was believed to have compromised police operations.
Protocol review
As for the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Police Commission (Napolcom) on Tuesday said it would also review their police operating procedures during hostage-taking incidents.
Napolcom Vice-Chairperson and Executive Officer Eduardo Escueta assured that they would be making changes in their policies, after operatives learned lessons from Monday's bloody incident.
PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said he would be heading the Post Critical Incident Management Committee (PCIMC), the body formed by the police to also investigate the incident.
“The unfortunate outcome of the hostage drama in Manila warrants a full-dress investigation to establish all circumstances surrounding the incident," the PNP chief said.
The PCIMC would be headed by the PNP's directorial staff, including the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management that will handle the criminal, administrative, and human rights aspects of the investigation.
The Directorate for Intelligence is tasked to conduct a background investigation on Mendoza, and the Directorate for Police Community Relations (DPCR) will review existing police-media policies during critical situations.
Deputy Director General Raul Bacalzo will take care of revisiting operational procedures and crowd-control measures. –VVP
