EU: Botched hostage rescue RP’s ‘dark cloud’

The Aug. 23 botched hostage rescue operation that left at least eight Hong Kong Chinese tourists dead, with eight injured, and more traumatized by the incident, has cast a “very dark cloud” over the image of the Philippines in the eyes of the international community, a European Union (EU) official yesterday said.

While stressing that the bloody hostage rescue at the Quirino Grandstand last week could happen anywhere else in the world, the EU official admitted that the bungled rescue operation cast a “dark cloud” over the image of the country in the international community.

Alistair McDonald, ambassador of the EU delegation to the Philippines, said he is personally looking forward to the results of the ongoing top-level investigation of the hostage-taking and botched rescue that ended in the killing of the eight Chinese tourists.

“I cannot comment on the event itself because the investigation is ongoing but an event of that nature happening anywhere in the world certainly casts a very dark cloud over the image of the country whatever it is when something like that happens,” McDonald told Camp Aguinaldo reporters during the Multi-stakeholders Forum on Human Rights and Armed Conflicts.

“But it happened here in the Philippines and I think it was tragic.

“The investigation is ongoing, I gathered that steps are going to be taken to make sure that this kind of situation can’t (happen) again. And I very much look forward to hearing the results of the investigation,” he said, but downplayed the possible effect of the incident to investors from the EU and other countries.

“I don’t think there was any particular impact there but the ongoing perception of a country where violence happened is something which is certainly discouraging. It is not an individual case which produces that result,” added McDonald.

The EU official also expressed optimism the country will bounced back from the debacle brought about by the hostage-taking.

In a related development, a Malacañang official virtually called Sen. Edgardo Angara a liar, just as he did Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang earlier in the matter of President Aquino’s unavailability in taking his call.

The Palace aide yesterday denied the Palace had a hand in the Senate’s decision to postpone its conduct of a legislative inquiry that would look into the recent hostage taking incident as claimed by Angara.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma said there was no one from Malacañang who communicated with Sen. Gregorio Honasan, to request the deferment of his panel’s probe regarding the matter.

“There is no truth to that because the Executive branch respects the independence of the Legislative branch and I believe Senate President (Juan Ponce) Enrile himself has stated that there is no such thing,” Coloma told reporters at a news conference.

Coloma indicated support for any effort that would contribute to the establishment of truth behind the Aug. 23 carnage when an sacked police officer hijacked a busload of tourists in Quirino Grandstand and killed eight of them.

“Our ultimate objective is to bring about a comprehensive report that will answer all of the questions pertaining to the hostage taking incident last week to the satisfaction of the stakeholders concerned…our objective is to ensure that the truth will come out; that parties or individuals that are responsible will be held accountable for their actions and that the findings of this fact-finding and investigation process will bring about closure to an unfortunate incident and will enable our country to move on,” Coloma explained.

“That is our overall context and, as I stated earlier, we are not in any position and we have not done anything to influence other bodies that were conducting similar investigations including the Senate,” he added.

He reiterated that the Palace expects Justice Secretary Leila de Lima tp live up to her promise of carrying out a “fair and thorough investigation”.

Coloma assured the media and the public that the officials handling the investigation are all credible and have the credentials to back his claim.

Coloma also expressed confidence that the perceived gap in the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China as well as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will soon be repaired.

“I read that Tourism Secretary Lim of Tourism has assessed the impact and the assessment is that it may lead to a reduction of at least 10 percent in terms of the volume of tourist arrivals from Hong Kong. But we also note that this is a very dynamic event. This is a very dynamic situation,” Coloma explained. “We are hoping that as the investigation winds down, as we are able to present the findings to the HKSAR and to the Chinese government that there will be a better understanding on both sides of what happened and there will be space in time for goodwill and friendship to be rebuilt and strengthened,” he stressed.

At least two survivors in last week’s hostage-taking at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila have signified their interest to give their statements on the botched hostage rescue.

De Lima announced the development a day before the start of the formal investigation as she bared that the government may send two probers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and a public prosecutor from the Justice Department to interview the two survivors and get their depositions that could help the DoJ and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) dig deeper into the incident but added that the government may dispense with the sending of the NBI-DoJ team to Hong Kong should the statements of these survivors that they already gave to the Hong Kong police are already clear and complete.

She stressed that the survivors’ statements could be vital specially their accounts of the moments leading to the bloodbath, what triggered the hostage-taker (former police Captain Rolando Mendoza) to start shooting, and everything else to help the committee resolve the case.

At the same time, De Lima debunked reports that the joint commitees’ hearings would only delay the release of the results of the separate investigations of the Philippine National Police and NBI.

On the contrary, De Lima said the hearings will add “credibility” to the results since evidence will be properly collated and make the necessary recommendations.

Scheduled to appear before the body are DILG Underscretary Rico Puno, PNP chief Jesus Verzosa, NCRPO chief Leocadio Santiago, former Manila Police District head Rodolfo Magtibay, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, and the three negotiators.

De Lima said the hearing will start today, will resume on Satuday, and another hearing on Monday where the committee is expected to go to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig to conduct an occular inspection on the ill-fated tourist bus.

The Filipino driver of the bus who survived the ordeal, according to de Lima, will be asked to go along with them during the inspection.

De Lima also revealed that the woman who dropped off Mendoza to Fort Santiago in Manila will be asked to appear on Monday.

The NBI meanwhile has concluded gathering of testimonies from personalities who played a role during the hostage rescue.

Media personalities who were at the NBI headquarters yesterday for questioning were Mike Enriquez, Susan Enriquez, and Michael Fajatin from GMA network to to give their testimonies and details on their observation and experience while covering the hostage drama.

Yesterday the NBI probers concluded the investigation of P/Supt. Nelson Yabut and other Manila Police District to give their side and explanation on the accusation of their mistakes in handling the incident.

An NBI investigator revealed that Mayor Lim and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno are to be questioned in their office in the Manila city Hall.

Interrogators said that they tried to rush the investigation of some personalities before the start of marathon hearing of the ICRC. –Mario J. Mallari,Aytch S. de la Cruzand Benjamin B. Pulta with Pat C. Santos, Daily Tribune