Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is taking responsibility for a hostage crisis which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead will not absolve other officials if they are found culpable, a spokesman said yesterday.
Aquino said on Friday he took full responsibility for the tragedy, which has chilled ties with the southern Chinese city and damaged the Philippine tourism industry.
Philippine presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma said in an interview on government radio that Aquino’s admission was in the context of his role as the country’s highest elected official.
“He is not absolving the other officials, no. The president is simply emphasizing that he is accountable to the people [who] elected him,” Coloma said.
Sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza took a busload of tourists hostage on Aug. 23 in a desperate bid to clear himself of extortion charges and get his job back.
The standoff, which played out live on global television, came to a bloody end when police made a botched attempt to storm the bus and rescue the hostages.
A high-level committee formed by Aquino is now holding an inquiry into the bloodbath which left eight hostages and the gunman dead and is expected to submit its report next week.
In the same vein, Coloma said Aquino had no plans to quit.
“He will complete his six-year term as president,” he said.
Asked about the Hong Kong legislature’s demand for an apology and compensation, Coloma said: “President Aquino has apologized and this has been acknowledged by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權).”
Coloma said Aquino had also announced that his government would consider compensation.
Philippine officials overseeing a hostage crisis left their posts when negotiations broke down and shooting began, an official inquiry heard yesterday.
The testimony by Manila Deputy Mayor Isko Moreno, came after details emerged of a catalogue of mistakes by other police and government officials in the standoff.
Moreno said he and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim both left the police hostage crisis command post at dusk, soon after the hostage-taker rejected a proposed compromise and fired a warning shot.
“What was I supposed to do, go meet the bullets?” Moreno retorted in a heated exchange with a high-level committee set up by Aquino to investigate the fiasco.
Moreno said he felt frustrated the city government’s efforts to bring a peaceful end to the day-long crisis had bogged down and drove to a nearby hotel to have coffee and watch police launch a rescue operation on live television.
Lim, who gave evidence to the board on Friday, and Moreno were the chairman and vice chairman respectively of a local “crisis management committee” assigned to resolve the hostage crisis.
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the head of the inquiry, told the witness she felt the crisis committee officials had left the decision-making to the local police in the crucial last hour before the assault on the bus.
“During the critical moments, we learned that Mayor Lim went to [a nearby restaurant] and you went to [the hotel],” de Lima added.
“It seemed as though you entrusted the police with full responsibility for the situation,” Philippine Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told the vice mayor.
On Friday, the inquiry was told the country’s police chief left Manila halfway through the standoff and the force’s best-trained unit sat out the bungled assault. The inquiry is scheduled to finish its hearings tomorrow.
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