Arroyo spokesperson says police force same, commander-in-chief different
MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III's apparent first crisis as chief executive has unwittingly cast his unpopular predecessor in a more favorable light.
Allies of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now congressional representative of Pampanga's 2nd district, quickly pounced on the alleged inefficiency of the Aquino administration to defend her own track record in hostage crises.
Quezon Province Rep. Danilo Suarez cited the better batting average of Arroyo and her team, noting several hostage and abduction cases happened during the last 9 years where there were minimal, if not no fatalities at all.
Among those Suarez cited--the 2007 Manila hostage crisis involving schoolchildren, the Taguig hostage crisis also in 2007, the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, the NAIA Control Tower takeover in 2003--where no innocent victims were hurt.
"I remember during that time [NAIA control tower siege], the President asked when the first aircraft was landing on the runway. The answer was 2:30 [a.m.]. The President ordered to make sure the situation is settled before first aircraft touches down," Suarez said.
When asked if the Arroyo administration equipped and trained the police well, Arroyo's spokesperson Elena Bautista Horn said, "Pareho lang naman mga pulis noon at pulis ngayon, pinagkaiba lang yung nag-co-command" (The police today are the same as the police then. The only difference is the one in command.).
When asked about comparisons being made by observers between the incumbent and the previous president, Bautista said: "History will judge former President Arroyo fairly. Nagpapasalamat kami na slowly, narerealize na ng tao yung mag nagawang mabuti ng dating Pangulo."
Apparently reaching out to media, Rep. Arroyo surprised House-based media by dropping by the press office unannounced. This was after as her key ally, House minority leader Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, had just circulated his own statement castigating the Aquino adminstration for its mishandling of the Manila hostage crisis.
Lagman hits 3 Cabinet officials
In the ensuing press conference of the House minority, Arroyo allies took turns taking the administration and its key officials, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Communications Group Secretaries Ricky Carandang and Herminio Coloma, to task for the crisis.
Lagman told media that the Aquino administration failed. "The Aquino administration faced its first major crisis in a fiasco with a lone hostage-taker. And the Aquino administration failed in its response leading to the death of 8 tourists," he said.
Lagman took the president to task for his slow response since Aquino faced the media only midnight on Monday. "The crisis, because of international repercussions, demanded decisive and forthwith presidential action, but the president was nowhere to be found," he added.
It was an apparent reference to unanswered phone calls to Aquino by Hong Kong's leader over the hostage crisis. When told about Aquino's reason that nobody told him about it, Lagman said that was an unacceptable reason.
"I thought that there is an agenda for change. Change should be for the better. Apparently, this change is for the worst," he said.
On Robredo, Lagman said: "Robredo has jurisdiction over the PNP [Philippine National Police]. He should have taken complete control and responded to the scene of the ordeal soon enough. Concerned police officers have admitted their major failures and defects in handling crisis situation."
On Carandang and Coloma, Lagman said: "In the case of Secretaries Carandang and Coloma, they failed to rein broadcast media, who made a live coverage of the crisis so much so that the hostage taker was able to monitor on TV installed in the tourist bus everything being prepared by authorities, and he was able to anticipate police action. These 2 secretaries failed to impress and advice media that there is an international protocol for media in the coverage of hostage crisis situations. We believe there was culpable indifference on part of secretaries they were unmindful of effects of crisis (if not solved properly) to our relationships with other countries."
When asked about whether there's a need to legislate or enforce a media news blackout for crisis situations, Lagman said, "the legal infrastructure is there, it's the implementation that is flawed."
Rep. Mitos Magsaysay said, "Masakit mang sabihin kailangan po bago adminsitrasyon, yung learning curve ng kawani niya, we cannot anymore sacrifice the learning curve. Ilang days at weeks iintayin natin na magkaroon ng ganitong aberya bago sabihin it's time to go? Masyado tayong emotional pag friends natin ang andiyan di maka-decide if it's time to go or stay." Tourism secretary nixed
Suarez also took Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim to task for taking the matter lightly.
"Hong Kong ranks 5th in our tourist industry and the statement of the secretary of tourism in a relaxed manner that it's an ordinary case... di magandang tignan yun. Dapat simula ng statement mo, masama loob mo, magpakumbaba tayo, aminin na may mismanagement," he said.
Lagman also urged PNP Chief Jesus Verzosa, a holdover from the Arroyo administration, and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Leocadio Santiago to resign. "Ang bosses nila gusto naming mag-resign, and they should follow suit."
Rep. Victor Ortega warned of the backlash to Filipinos in Hong Kong.
"This needed personal attention of the president if only to show concern for the safety of hostages taken in. Considering they were foreign tourists, there is really a chain of reaction. We have to consider there are Filipinos working in Hong Kong. Whenever we have problems with OFWs, we do it on government to government basis. With the souring of relations, we will definitely be much harder," Ortega said.
Former police officer turned Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil, for his part, reminded the PNP of the rules of procedure, and asked if they observed it.
